THE  RELIGIONS 


OF 


THE    ANCIENT    WORLD 


BY 

GEORGE  RAWLINSON,  M.  A. 

• 

Author  of  "  The  Seven  Great  Monarchies  of  the  Ancient 
Eastern  World,''1  etc. 


NEW  YORK 

LOVELL,  CORYELL  &  COMPANY 

43,  45  AND  47  EAST  TENTH  STREET 


~R 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Present  fashion  of  speculating  on  the  origin  of  things — The  aim 
of  this  work  to  collect  facts,  not  to  construct  a  "Science  of 
Religion  " — Religion  one  of  the  most  instructive  and  interest- 
ing branches  of  historical  study — These  pages  deal  with  the 
religious  tenets  and  practices  of  the  eight  principal  nations  of 
antiquity — The  religion  of  the  Jews  purposely  omitted  .  page  11 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS. 

Polytheism  existed  in  three  forms  :  1,  Synthetic;  2,  Analytic;  3, 
Mixed — Egyptian  polytheism  of  the  last  named  kind — Early 
classification  of  the  gods — The  principal  divinities — Ammon 
— Khem— Kneph— Phthah— Ra—  Osiris— Neith  or  Net— Wor- 
ship of  the  sun  and  moon — Malevolent  deities — Local  triads — 
Animal  worship — The  Apis  bulls — Temples  and  ceremonies 
—Belief  in  a  future  life — Treatment  of  the  dead — Egyptian 
"  natural  theology  " — No  ground  for  supposing  Egyptians 
acquainted  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  ....  page  14 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ASSYKIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

Assyrians  believed  in  fewer  gods,  and  worshipped  the  heavenly 
bodies  more  than  the  Egyptians — Had  no  esoteric  religion — 
An  account  of  their  religion  is  hence  a  description  of  their 
pantheon—  Asshur  and  II  or  Ra — The  first  triad,  Ann,  Bel 
and  Hea  or  Hoa — The  second  triad ,  Sin,  Shainas,  and  Yul — 
The  six  goddesses,  Anata,  Beltis ,  Dav-kina,  Gula,  Shala  or 
Tala,  and  "  the  Great  Lady  " — The  five  astral  deities— The 
Assyrian  Nin — The  Babylonian  Merodach — Nergal — Ishtar 
— Nebo— Religious  buildings  of  the  Assyrians — Their  ritual — 


CONTENTS. 

Their  view  of  a  future  life — Their  superstitions — Their  sacred 
legends — The  Chaldean  legend  of  creation  as  given  by  Bero- 
sus  and  the  monuments — The  Chaldean  legend  of  the  Del- 
uge— The  descent  of  Ishtar  into  Hades page  35 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

Early  home  of  the  Iranians — The  origin  of  their  religion  anterior 
to  the  birth  of  Moses — Zoroaster,  its  founder — Persia  its  abid- 
ing home— The  Zendavesta — Dualism  the  great  characteristic 
— Ahura-Mazda  and  Angro-Mainyus — Signification  of  these 
names — Attributes  of  the  two  deities — Their  respective  bands 
of  inferior  spirits — The  Amesha-Spentas — The  spirits  subor- 
dinate to  Angro-Mainyus— The  symbol  of  the  winged  circle 
— Mithra,  the  genius  of  light — Man  created  by  Ahura-Mazda; 
bound  to  obey  him,  and  oppose  Angro-Mainyus — The  purity 
of  the  Iranians — Their  industry — Veracity — Views  on  a 
future  life — Belief  in  a  resurrection  of  the  body  not  found  in 
earlier  parts  of  Zendavesta — Translation  of  a  Gatha  ascribed 
to  Zoroaster — A  specimen  from  the  Yasna  or  Book  on  Sacri- 
fice— Introduction  of  Magism,  or  worship  of  fire,  air,  earth, 
and  water — The  Magian  priesthood — Their  strange  treat- 
ment of  the  dead— Nature  of  the  late  and  mixed  religion .  page  63 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SANSKBITIC  INDIANS. 

Early  Indians  polytheistic — Traditions  point  to  an  early  condi- 
tion of  extreme  hardship,  in  which  the  belief  in  one  God  may 
have  been  generally  lost — The  religious  instinct  in  the 
Hindoos  manufactured  deities — Growth  of  Vedic  polytheism 
— The  chief  deities,  Varuna,  Mitra,  and  Indra — Agni,  the  god 
of  fire — Dyaus  and  the  other  nature-gods — Ushas.  the  dawn 
— Surya,  the  sun — Vayu,  the  wind— "Dyaus  and  Prithivi — 
Soma  worshipped  as  the  moon,  and  also  as  the  genius  of  a 
certain  plant — Indian  worship  simple  in  form — Their  hymns 
—Their  offerings — Their  views  on  the  future  life — Immortal- 
ity as  hinted  at  by  Vedic  poets — Speculations  on  the  deeper 
problems  of  human  and  divine  existence — Translation  of  a 
Vedic  poem page  83 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  RELIGION  op  THE  PHOSNICIANS  AND  CARTHAGINIANS. 

Our  knowledge  on  this  subject  has  to  be  gleaned  from  few  and 
scattered  notices — The  Phoenician  a  narrow  polytheism — 
The  names  of  the  gods  indicate  a  knowledge  of  the  personal- 


CONTENTS.  5 

ity  of  the  Supreme  Being — They  point  to  an  original  mono- 
theism— The  female  deities  mere  modes  of  the  male  ones — 
Baal — Ashtoreth — Melkarth — Dagon — Adonis  or  Taminuz — 
El — The  sun-worship— Shamas — Molech — Baaltis — Sadyk — 
Eshtnun — The  Kabiri — Foreign  deities — Licentious  rites — 
Human  sacrifice — No  images  in  the  temples — Asherahs — 
General  tendency  of  the  worship  to  lower  and  debase  men.  .  IOC 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETRUSCANS. 

Known  to  us  chiefly  from  references  in  Greek  and  Latin  -writers 
— Etruscan  languages  not  yet  mastered — Religion  held  a  lead- 
ing place  in  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  nation — 
Twofold  objects  of  worship,  deities  and  Lares — Three  classes 
of  deities,  of  heaven,  of  earth ,  and  of  the  infernal  regions — 
Chief  deities  of  Heaven — Tina  or  Tinia — Cupra — Menrva  or 
Menrfa — Usil  and  Losna— The  three  elemental  gods — The 
Novensiles— The  prominent  place  assigned  to  the  gods  of  the 
infernal  regions — Mantus,  Mania,  and  Charun — Attributes 
of  these  deities  and  their  attendants — Etruscans  sought  to 
learn  the  will  of  the  gods  in  three  ways:  1,  by  thunder  and 
lightning;  2,  by  the  flight  of  birds;  and  3,  by  the  inspec- 
tion of  entrails — The  priesthood  a  race  of  soothsayers — Sacri- 
fices were  both  animal  and  human — The  true  temple  was  the 
home,  the  real  object  of  worship  the  Lares — Etruscan  tombs 
— The  Etruscan  a  depressing,  superstitious,  and  debasing 
worship paye  12C 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

In  what  sense  a  worship  of  Nature — Multitudinous  character  of 
the  polytheism — Classes  of  gods — Gradations  in  rank  and 
power — The  six  gods  of  the  first  order  ;  Zeus — Poseidon- 
Apollo — Ares — Hephaestus — Hermes — The  six  female  Olyni- 
pic  deities  :  Hera,  Athene,  Artemis,  Aphrodite?,  Hestia, 
Demeter — Worship  of  Dionysus — Leto — Persephone — Char- 
acteristics of  Greek  worship— The  festivals — The  dark  side 
— The  Furies — Human  sacrifice — The  "mysteries"  ...  131 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

The  Roman  quite  distinct  from  the  Greek  religion — The  twelve 
Di  majores  :  Jupiter — Juno — Minerva — Mars  —  Bellona — 
Vesta— Ceres — Saturnus — Ops — Hercules — Morcurius — Nep- 
trunus — Five  groups  of  subordinate  deities — The  worship 
supported  by  the  state— Several  orders  of  priests — The  three 


CONTENTS. 

chief  collegia;  I,  Salii  Palatini;  2,  Salii  Collini;  and  3,  Vir- 
gines  Vestales — The  learned  corporations  :  1,  the  Pontifices; 
2,  the  Augurs ;  3,  the  Fetials ;  4,  the  Duumviri  sacrorum — 
The  public  worship  of  the  State — The  private  worship  of  the 
people — Roman  religion  dull  and  tame,  as  compared  with  the 
Greek — Doctrines  of  expiation — Mythological  fables  foreign 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Romans page  156 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

The  time  has  not  yet  come  to  construct  a  "  Science  of  Religion," 
but  certain  results  seem  to  follow  from  this  review,  viz. : — 1. 
It  is  impossible  to  trace  to  any  one  fundamental  conception 
the  various  religions. — 2.  From  none  of  them  could  the 
Hebrew  religion  have  originated — 3.  The  sacred  books  of 
the  Hebrews  could  not  possibly  have  been  derived  from  the 
sacred  writings  of  these  nations — 4.  This  review  gives  no 
countenance  to  the  theory  of  Comte — 5.  The  facts  point  to 
a  primitive  religion,  of  which  monotheism  and  expiatory 
sacrifice  were  parts,  gradually  corrupted  and  lost  except 
among  the  Hebrews. page  174 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


OBELISK  OF  USURTASEN  AT  HELIOPOLIS          .        .   (Frontispiece) 

AMMON' 18 

PHTHAII 19 

RA 20 

THOTH 22 

TKIAD  OF  SAVAK-RA,  ATJIOK,  AND  KHONS      ....  23 

THE  JUDGMENT  HALL  OF  OSIRIS 27 

MUMMY  AND  DISEMBODIED  SPIRIT    ......  29 

ASSHUR 38 

Six         .               43 

VUL 45 

NIN 46 

NERGAL 49 

WINGED  CIRCLE 70 

FOUR-WINGED  FIGURE  AT  MURGAB           69 

TOMB  OF  DARIUS 71 

FIRE  ALTARS 77 

MAGIAN  PRIEST 79 

ASTARTE               106 

THE  SUN                HO 

COIN  OF  COSSURA H3 

COIN  OF  GrAULOS H4 

SACRED  TREE— ASHERAH 118 


PREFACE. 

THIS  little  work  has  originated  in  a  series  of  papers 
written  for  the  Sunday  at  Home  in  the  years  1879  and  1881, 
based  upon  Lectures  delivered  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
from  the  chair  which  I  have  the  honor  to  hold.  During  the 
twenty-one  years  that  I  have  occupied  that  chair,  I  have 
continually  felt  more  and  more  that  the  real  history  of  na- 
tions is  bound  up  with  the  history  of  their  religions,  and 
that,  unless  these  are  carefully  studied  and  accurately  known, 
the  inner  life  of  nations  is  not  apprehended,  nor  is  their 
history  understood. 

I  have  also  felt  that  the  desire  to  generalize  upon  the 
subject  of  ancient  religions,  and  to  build  up  a  formal 
"  Science  of  Religion,"  as  it  is  called,  has  outrun  the  neces- 
sarily anterior  collection  of  materials  on  which  generaliza- 
tion might  be  safely  based.  I  have,  therefore,  in  my  lect- 
ures to  students,  made  a  point  of  drawing  their  attention, 
from  time  to  time,  to  the  religious  beliefs  and  practices  of 
the  various  races  and  nations  with  whom  my  historical 
teaching  has  been  concerned,  and  of  exhibiting  to  them,  as 
well  as  I  was  able,  at  once  the  external  features  and  the  in- 
ternal characteristics  of  "  The  Religions  of  the  Ancient 
World." 

But  the  voice  of  a  Professor,  speaking  ex  cathedrd  rarely 
reaches  far,  nor  do  modern  academical  reforms  tend  in  the 
direction  of  enlarging  professorial  influence  within  Univer- 
sities. It  thus  becomes  necessary  for  Professors,  if  they 
wish  to  advance  the  studies  in  which  they  feel  especial  in- 
terest, to  address  the  world  without  through  the  Press,  and 
this  I  have. accordingly  done  from  time  to  time,  and  shall 
pi'obably  continue  to  do,  while  life  and  strength  are  granted 
to  me. 

Of  the  shortcomings  of  the  present  work  no  one  can  be 


]0  PREFACE. 

more  conscious  than  its  author.  I  have  represented  myself 
towards  its  close  (p.  173)  as  having  done  no  more  than 
touched  the  fringe  of  a  great  subject.  Should  circumstances 
permit,  and  sufficient  encouragement  be  received,  the  sketch 
of  Ancient  Religions  here  put  forth  may  not  improbably 
receive  at  some  future  time  such  an  expansion  as  may  render 
it  more  porportionate  to  the  vast  matter  of  which  it  treats. 
It  is  impossible  to  make  acknoAvledgments  to  all  those 
whose  works  I  have  consulted  with  advantage.  But  my 
obligations  to  Professor  Max  Mtiller's  dissertations  upon 
the  Vedas,  to  Dr.  Martin  Haug's  "  Essays  on  the  Parsee 
Religion,"  and  to  Mr.  Dennis's  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries  of 
Etruria  "  seem  to  require  special  recognition.  Apart  from 
the  works  of  these  writers,  three  of  the  "  Religions  "  could 
not  have  been  so  much  as  attempted.  If  I  have  ventured 
sometimes,  though  rarely,  to  differ  from  their  conclusions, 
it  has  been  with  diffidence  and  reluctance. 


THE   RELIGIONS   OF 

THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 


INTRODUCTION. 

"  Religio  est,  quse  superioris  cujusdam,  naturae,  quam  Divinam 
vocant,  curam  cserimoniamque  affert." — Cic.  De  Inventione,  ii.  53. 

IT  is  the  fashion  of  the  day  to  speculate  on  the  origins  of 
things.  Not  content  with  observing  the  mechanism  of  the 
heavens,  astronomers  discuss  the  formation  of  the  material 
universe,  and  seek  in  the  phenomena  which  constitute  the 
subject-matter  of  their  science  for  "  Vestiges  of  Creation." 
Natural  philosophers  propound  theories  of  the  "  Origin  of 
Species,"  and  the  primitive  condition  of  man.  Comparative 
philologists  are  no  longer  satisfied  to  dissect  languages,  com- 
pare roots,  or  contrast  systems  of  grammar,  but  regard  it  as 
incumbent  upon  them  to  put  forward  views  respecting  the 
first  beginnings  of  language  itself. 

To  deal  with  facts  is  thought  to  be  a  humdrum  and 
commonplace  employment  of  the  intellect,  one  fitted  for  the 
dull  ages  when  men  were  content  to  plod,  and  when  prog- 
ress, development,  "  the  higher  criticism  "  were  unknown. 
The  intellect  now  takes  loftier  flights.  Conjecture  is  found 
to  be  more  amusing  than  induction,  and  an  ingenious  hy- 
pothesis to  be  more  attractive  than  a  proved  law.  Our  "ad- 
vanced thinkers"  advanced  to  the  furthest  limits  of  human 
knowledge,  sometimes  even  beyond  them  ;  and  bewitch  us  • 
with  speculations,  which  are  as  beautiful,  and  as  unsubstan- 
tial, as  the  bubbles  which  a  child  produces  with  a  little  soap 
and  water  and  a  tobacco-pipe. 


12          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

Nor  does  even  religion  escape.  The  historical  method 
of  inquiry  into  the  past  facts  of  religion  is  in  danger  of 
being  superseded  by  speculations  concerning  what  is  called 
its  "  philosophy,"  or  its  "  science."  We  are  continually  in- 
vited  to  accept  the  views  of  this  or  that  theorist  respecting 
the  origin  of  all  religions,  which  are  attributed  either  to  a 
common  innate  idea  or  instinct,  or  else  to  a  common  mode 
of  reasoning  upon  the  phenomena  and  experiences  of  human 
life.  While  the  facts  of  ancient  religions  are  only  just 
emerging  from  the  profound  obscurity  that  has  hitherto 
rested  upon  them,  fancy  is  busy  constructing  schemes  and 
systems,  which  have  about  as  much  reality  as  the  imagina- 
tions of  a  novelist  or  the  day-dreams  of  an  Alnaschar.  The 
patient  toil,  the  careful  investigation  which  real  Science  re- 
quires as  the  necessary  basis  upon  which  generalization  must 
proceed,  and  systems  be  built  up,  is  discarded  for  the  "  short 
and  easy  method"  of  jumping  to  conclusions  and  laying 
down  as  certainties  what  are,  at  the  best, "  guesses  at  truth." 

It  is  not  the  aim  of  the  present  writer  to  produce  a 
"  Science  of  Religion,"  or  even  to  speculate  on  the  possi- 
bility of  such  a  science  being  ultimately  elaborated  when  all 
the  facts  are  fully  known.  He  has  set  himself  a  more  pro- 
saic and  less  ambitious  task — that,  namely,  of  collecting 
materials  which  may  serve  as  a  portion  of  the  data,  when 
the  time  comes,  if  it  ever  comes,  for  the  construction  of  the 
science  in  question.  A  building  cannot  be  erected  without 
materials ;  a  true  science  cannot  be  constructed  without 
ample  data. 

Careful  inquiries  into  the  real  nature  of  historical  relig- 
ions are  necessary  preliminaries  to  the  formation  of  any 
general  theories  on  the  subject  of  religion  worth  the  paper 
upon  which  they  are  written.  And  such  inquiries  have, 
moreover,  a  value  in  themselves.  "  The  proper  study  of 
mankind  is  man  ;  "  and  the  past  history  of  the  human  race 
possesses  an  undying  interest  for  the  greater  portion  of  edu- 
cated human  kind.  Of  that  past  history  there  is  no  branch 
more  instructive,  and  few  more  entertaining,  than  that  which 
deals  with  religious  beliefs,  opinions,  and  practices.  Re- 
ligion is  the  most  important  element  in  the  thought  of  a 
nation  ;  and  it  is  by  studying  their  religions  that  we  obtain 
the  best  clue  to  the  inner  life  and  true  character  of  the  vari- 
ous peoples  who  have  played  an  important  part  In  the  drama 
of  human  affairs. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

In  the  ensuing  pages  the  religious  tenets  and  practices 
of  eight  principal  nations  of  antiquity  are  passed  in  review 
— the  nations  being  those  with  which  ancient  history  is 
chiefly  concerned — the  Egyptians,  Assyrians  and  Baby- 
lonians, Iranians,  Sanskritic  Indians,  Phrenicians,  Etruscans, 
Greeks,  and  Romans. 

The  religion  of  the  Jews  has  been  omitted,  as  sufficiently 
well  known  to  all  educated  persons.  The  religions  of  an- 
cient barbarous  races  have  been  excluded,  as  not  having 
come  down  to  us  in  any  detail,  or  upon  ufficiently  trust- 
worthy evidence.  The  eight  nations  selected  lave,  on  the 
contrary,  left  monuments  and  writing..,  more  or  less  exten- 
sive, from  which  it  has  seemed  tc  be  possible  to  give  a 
tolerably  full  account  of  their  religion.,  beliefs,  and  one  on 
which  a  fair  degree  of  dependence  may  be  placed.  No 
doubt,  as  time  goes  on,  and  fresh  discoveries  are  made  of 
ancient  documents,  or  an  increased  insight  obtained  into  the 
true  meaning  of  their  contents,  we  shall  come  to  know  much 
more  than  we  know  at  present  on  the  subject  here  handled ; 
but  it  is  confidently  believed  that  further  research  and  study 
will  only  supplement,  and  not  contradict,  the  views  which 
are  here  put  forward.  The  author  will  gladly  see  the 
sketch  which  he  here  attempts  filled  up  and  completed  by 

Others.  Aofe/cv  &v  navTbf  e'lvai  irpor.yayeiv  icai  diapdpuaai  TO.  ica/.uf 
l^niTa  ry  irepiypaQij ,  KOI  6  xp6v°S  T<Jv  TOIOVTVV  Evperrjf,  ij  cwtp-)b<;  ayadbs 
tivai.  btiev  nal  TUV  rtxvuv  yey6vaatv  CTuS6ati<;'  Travrov  yap  npoadeivai  To 


14      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    RELIGION   OF    THE    ANCIENT   EGYPTIANS. 


Aiytumo*     ....     Qeoaifties  irspiaa^  eovre?  fia-yiara 
tiTTuv.  —  HEROD,  ii.  37. 


THE  religions  of  the  ancient  world,  if  we  except  Juda- 
ism, seem  to  have  been,  all  of  them,  more  or  less  polytheis- 
tic ;  but  the  polytheism  grew  up  in  different  ways,  was 
carried  out  to  very  different  lengths,  and  proceeded  upon 
considerably  varying  principles.  In  some  places  natural 
objects  and  operations  appear  to  have  presented  themselves 
to  the  unsophisticated  mind  of  man  as  mysterious,  wonderful, 
divine  ;  and  light,  fire,  the  air,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  dawn, 
the  cloud,  the  stream,  the  storm,  the  lightning,  drew  his  at- 
tention separately  and  distinctly,  each  having  qualities  at 
which  he  marvelled,  each,  as  he  thought,  instinct  with  life 
and  each,  therefore,  regarded  as  a  Power,  a  Being  —  the 
natural  and  proper  object  of  worship  and  reverence.  Else- 
where, men  seem  to  have  begun  with  a  dim  and  faint  appre- 
ciation of  a  single  mysterious  power  in  the  world  without 
them,  and  to  have  gradually  divided  this  power  up  into  its 
various  manifestations,  which  by  degrees  became  separate 
and  distinct  beings.  The  process  in  this  case  might  stop 
short  after  a  few  steps  had  been  taken,  or  it  might  be  car- 
ried on  almost  interminably,  until  a  pantheon  had  been 
formed  in  which  the  mind  lost  itself. 

Where  the  polytheism  grew  up  out  of  an  analysis,  the 
principle  of  the  division  might  lie  either  physical  or  metaphy- 
sical; ft  separation  of  nature  into  its  parts,  or  an  analysis  of 
the  Being  presiding  over  nature  into  his  various  powers  and 
attributes.  Or  these  two  processes  might  be  combined  and 
intermixed,  the  pantheon  being  thus  still  further  enlarged 
at  the  expense  of  some  confusion  of  thought  and  complexity 
of  arrangement.  Again,  occasionally,  there  was  a  further 


TUE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      15 

enlargement  and  complication,  in  consequence  of  the  desire 
to  embrace  in  one  system  analyses  which  were  really  distinct, 
or  to  comprise  in  a  single  national  religion  local  diversities 
of  arrangement  or  nomenclature,  or  even  to  admit  into  a 
system  based  on  one  principle  elements  which  belonged 
properly  to  systems  based  upon  others.  The  whole  result  in 
such  a  case  was  one  of  extensive  complexity,  and  even  con- 
tradiction ;  a  tangle  was  produced  which  it  was  scarcely 
possible  to  unravel.  The  system,  however,  gained  in  rich- 
ness and  variety  what  it  lost  in  logical  sequence  and  intelli- 
gibility, and  continued  to  have  a  firm  hold  on  the  minds  of 
many  when  religions  of  greater  internal  consistency  had 
lost  their  power. 

The  Egyptian  polytheism  was  of  the  character  last  de- 
scribed. Its  most  striking  characteristics  were  its  multitu- 
dinousness,  its  complexity,  and  the  connection  of  this  latter 
feature  with  early  local  diversities  in  the  names  and  offices 
of  the  gods.  Wilkinson,  who  does  not  profess  to  exhaust 
the  subject,  enumerates  seventy-three  divinities,  and  gives 
their  several  names  and  forms.*  Birch  has  a  list  of  sixty- 
three  "principal  deities,"  t  and  notes  that  "  others  personi- 
fied the  elements,  or  presided  over  the  operations  of  nature, 
the  seasons,  and  events.''^  It  is  not,  perhaps,  too  much  to 
say,  that  the  Egyptian  pantheon  in  its  final  form  comprised 
some  hundreds  of  gods  and  goddesses,§  each  known  under 
a  different  name,  and  each  discharging  more  or  less  peculiar 
functions.  We  say,  "  each  discharging  more  or  less  pecu« 
liar  functions,"  since  some  deities  were  so  nearly  alike,  came 
so  close  the  one  to  the  other,  that  their  identity  or  diversity 
is  a  moot  point,  still  disputed  among  Egyptologists.  In 
other  cases  the  diversity  is  greater,  yet  still  the  features  pos- 
sessed in  common  ai*e  so  numerous  that  the  gods  can  scarcely 
be  considered  wholly  distinct,  and,  indeed,  are  not  unfrc- 
quently  confounded  together  and  blended  into  a  single  per- 
sonage. We  hear  of  Amen-Ra,  Amen-Kneph,  Ka-Harma- 

*  "  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vols.  iv.and 
v.  For  the  forms,  see  his  "  Supplement,"  plates  21  to  72. 

t  See  his  "  Dictionary  of  Hieroglyphics  "  in  Bunsen's  "Egypt," 
vol.  v.  pp.  581-583. 

t  "  Guide  to  the  British  Museum,"  p.  4. 

§  And  inscription  of  Rameses  n.  speaks  of  "  the  thousand  gods, 
the  gods  male,  the  gods  female,  those  which  are  of  the  land  of 
Egypt"  ("  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.  p.  31);  but  this  phrase  is  no 
doubt  rhetorical. 


16  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD. 

chis,  Isis-Selk,  Phthah-Sokari-Osiris,  and  the  like.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  a  main  cause  of  this  multiplication 
of  deities,  nearly  or  quite  the  same,  which  at  first  sight 
seems  so  strange  and  unaccountable,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
originally  local  character  of  many  of  the  gods,  and  the 
subsequent  admission  of  purely  provincial  deities  into  the 
general  pantheon. 

With  a  view  to  educe  order  out  of  this  multitudinous 
confusion,  attempts  were  made  by  the  Greeks,  and  perhaps 
by  some  of  the  later  Egyptians  themselves,  to  classify  the 
deities,  and  divide  them  into  certain  ranks  or  orders,  each 
of  which  should  comprise  a  certain  definite  number.  Herod- 
otus speaks  of  a  first,  a  second,  and  a  third  order,*  and 
assigns  positively  to  the  first  order  eight,  and  to  the  second 
twelve  gods,  leaving  the  third  rank  indeterminate.  Some 
traces  of  a  similar  classification  are  found  in  some  of  the 
native  writers  ;  f  and  it  is  generally  agreed  that  a  distinction 
of  ranks  was  recognized ;  but  when  an  endeavor  is  made  to 
specify  the  gods  of  each  rank,  insurmountable  difficulties 
present  themselves.  It  seems  clear  that  even  the  first  eight 
gods  were  not  established  by  the  general  consent  of  the 
nation  in  all  parts  of  Egypt,  and  probable  that  in  one  and 
the  same  place  they  were  not  always  the  same  at  different 
periods.  According  to  what  seems  the  earliest  tradition,  the 
eight  names  were  those  of  Phthah,  Ra,  Shu  (or  Kneph),$ 
Seb,  Osiris,  Isis,  Set,  and  Horns;  according  to  the  latest  re- 
searches, they  were,  at  Memphis,  Phthah,  Shu,  Tefnu,  Seb, 
Nu  (or  Nut),  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Athor ;  while  at  Thebes  they 
were  Ammon,  Mcntu,  Turn  (or  Atum),  Shu,  Seb,  Osiris,  Set, 
and  Horus.§  Others  have  thought  to  find  them  in  Ammon, 
Khem,  Maut,  Kneph,  Sati,  Phthah,  Neith,  and  Ra,||  or  iu 
this  list  with  a  single  change — that  of  the  last  name,  for 
which  it  is  proposed  to  substitute  that  of  Bast  or  Pasht.lT 

•  Herod,  ii.  43. 

t  As  Manetho  (ap.  Euscb.  "  Chron.  Can."  i.  W). 

J  The  name  given  is  Agatiiodaamon,  who  is  thought  to  represent 
one  or  other  of  these  gods. 

§  See  Birch's  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  n.  c  300," 
"Introduction,"  pp.  x.  xi.,  and  compare  "Guide  to  the  British 
Museum,"  p.  12. 

II  Bunsen's  "Egypt's  Place  in  Ancient  History,"  vol.  i.  pp.  366- 
367. 

t  Wilkinson,  in  Kawlinson's  "Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  284-286 
(32nd  edition). 


THF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.     17 

It  is  evident  that,  while  the  chief  authorities  are  thus  at 
variance,  no  certain  list  of  .even  the  eight  great  gods  can  be 
put  forward. 

The  twelve  gods  of  the  second  order  are  still  more  inde- 
terminate. Two  lists  have  been  formulated,  one  by  Sir  G. 
Wilkinson,  and  the  other  by  the  late  Baron  Bunsen,  but 
each  includes  three  deities  which  are  excluded  by  the  other.* 
The  formation  of  such  lists  is  mere  guess-work  ;  and  the 
conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  attempts  made  is  that  while 
the  Egyptians  recognized  a  gradation  of  ranks  among  their 
deities,  and  assigned  to  some  a  position  of  decided  superi- 
ority,  to  others  one,  comparatively  speaking,  inferior,  there 
was  no  "  hard-and-fast  line  "  separating  rank  from  rank,  or 
order  from  order,  nor  was  any  definite  number  of  divinities 
reckoned  in  any  division. 

Still,  we  can  easily  particularize  the  principal  divinities, 
the  gods  which  were  the  chief  objects  of  worship,  either  in 
the  main  centres  of  population,  or  throughout  the  country. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  to  this  class  belong  Ammon, 
Khem,  Kneph,  Phthah,  Ra,  Osiris,  and  Xeith.  Ammon  was 
the  chief  god  of  Thebes,  Khem  of  Chemmis,  or  Panopolis, 
Kneph  of  Elephantine,  Phthah  of  Memphis,  Ra  of  Hcliopo- 
lis,  Osiris  of  Abydos  and  Phi  la?,  Xeith  of  Sais.  It  will  per- 
haps be  a  better  illustration  of  the  Egyptian  religion  to  give 
a  particular  though  brief  account  of  these  seven  deities  than 
to  waste  pages  in  generalities. 

Ammon  is  said  to  have  meant,  etymologically,  "  the  con- 
cealed god  ;  "  f  and  the  idea  of  Ammon  was  that  of  a  recon- 
dite, incomprehensible  divinity,  remote  from  man,  hidden, 
mysterious,  the  proper  object  of  the  profoundest  reverence. 
Practically,  this  idea  was  too  abstract,  too  high-flown,  too 
metaphysical,  for  ordinary  minds  to  conceive  of  it ;  and  so 
Ammon  was  at  an  early  date  conjoined  with  Ra,  the  Sun, 

*  Bunsen's  list  consists  of — 

Chons  *Bast  *Ma  Savak 

Thoth  *Athor  Tafne  Seb 

Turn  Shu  Alentu  Netpe; 

Wilkinson's  of — 

*Ra  Khons  Shu  Savak 

Seb  *Anouke  Tafne'  *Seneb 

Netpe  Turn  Thoth  Mentu 

The  peculiar  names  are  marked  with  an  asterisk. 

t  Manethoap.  Plutarch,  "  De  Isid.  et  Osir."  s.  9;  lamblich.  "De 
Mysteriis,"  viii.  3. 


18 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD. 


and  worshipped  as  Ammon-Ra,*  a  very  intelligible  god, 
neither  more  nor  less  than  the  physical  sun,  the  source  of 
light  and  life,  "  the  lord  of  existences  and  support  of  all 
things."  f 

Khem  was  the  generative 
principle,  the  power  of  life 
and  growth  in  nature  He 
was  rudely  and  coarsely 
represented  as  a  mummied 
figure,  with  phallus  in  front, 
and  forms  an  unsightly  ob- 
ject in  the  sculptures.  He 
\  presided  primarily  over  the 
^  vegetable  world,  and  was 
the  giver  of  fertility  and 
increase,  the  lord  of  the 
harvest,  and  the  patron  of 
agriculture.  But  the  human 
species  and  the  various 
kinds  of  animals  were  also 
under  his  charge,  and  from 
him  obtained  continuance. 
He  is  called,  "  the  king  of 
the  gods,"  "  the  lifter  of  the 
hand,"  "  the  lord  of  the 
crown,"  "  the  powerful,"t 
and  further  bears  the  special 
AMMON.  title  of  Kamutf,  "bull  of 

his  mother,"  in   allusion  to 
the  relation  which  he  bore  to  Nature. 

Kneph  was  the  divine  spirit  or  soul  considered  as  form- 
ing the  scheme  of  creation.  His  name  is  by  some  connected 
etymologically  with  the  Egyptian  word  for  "  breath,"  § 
which  is  nef ;  and  curious  analogies  arc  traced  between  him 
and  the  third  Person  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  the  Christian 
8vstem.||  As  "  the  Spirit  of  God,"  at  the  time  of  the  crea- 
tion "  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,"  so  Kneph  is  rcp- 

*  See  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  21,  31,  etc. ;  vol.  Iv.  pp   11, 
16,  etc. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  120, 1.  12. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.  p.  142. 

§  Bnnsen,  "  Egypt's  Place,"  vol.  i.  p.  375. 

I!  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  p.  236. 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      19 


resented  as  the  deity  who  presides  over  the  inundations. 
As  the  Heavens  were  made  by  the  "  breath  of  God's  mouth," 
so  Kneph  is  called,  "  the  god  who  has  made  the  sun  and 
moon  to  revolve  under  the  heavens  and  above  the  world, 
and  who  has  made  the  world  and  all  that  is  in  it."  *  Some 
representations  exhibit  him  as  a  potter  with  his  wheel ;  and 
the  inscriptions  accompanying  them  assign  to  him  the  for- 
mation of  gods  and  men.  It  is  perhaps  as  a  procreating 
principle  that  he  figured  commonly  with  the  head  of  a  ram. 
Kneph  was  worshipped  chiefly  in  tipper  Egypt,  at  Elephan- 
tine and  the  Cataracts ;  but  he  was  acknowledged  also  at 
Thebes,  at  Antaeopolis,  and  elsewhere. 

Phthah,  whom  the  Greeks  identified  with  their  Hephais- 
tos,  and  the  Romans  with  their  Vulcan,  was  a  creator  of  a 
more  vulgar  type  than  Kneph  or  Khem.  He  was  an  artisan 
god,  the  actual  manipulator  of  matter,  and  direct  maker  of 
the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  earth.  He  is  called,  "the  father 
of  the  beginnings,"  "  the  first  of  the  gods  of  the  upper 
world,"  "he  who  adjusts  the  world  by  his  hand,"  "  the  lord 
of  the  beautiful  countenance,"  and  "  the  lord  of 
truth."t  He  is  also  defined  by 
an  ancient  writer  $  as.  "the 
god  who  creates  with  truth." 
We  find  him  represented  un- 
der three  quite  different  forms, 
as  a  man  walking  or  sitting,  as 
a  mummied  figure,  accompani- 
ed by  "  the  emblem  of  stabil- 
ity," and  as  a  pigmy  or  dwarf. 
A  figure  of  this  last  description 
provoked  the  ridicule  of  Cam- 
byses,  the  Persian  conqueror 
of  Egypt,  who  "  entered  the 
grand  temple  of  Phthah  at  Memphis,  and 
made  great  sport  of  the  image."§  Forms 
of  Phthah  are  also  found  consisting  of  two 
PHTHAH.  figures  placed  back  to  back,  and  even  of 
three  figures  placed  at  an  angle.  These  seem,  however,  to 

*  Bunsen,  vol.  i.  p.  377. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.  pp.  5-15;  Birch,  "  Guide  to  the 
British  Museum."  p.  13. 

t  lamblichus,  "  De  Mysteriis,"  viii.  3. 

•  Herod,  iii.  37. 


PHTHAH. 


20 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD. 


represent  combinations  of  Phthah  with  other  nearly  allied 
gods,  and  are  called  commonly  "  figures  of  Phthah-Sokari," 
or  of  "  Phthah-Sokari-Osiris."  ' 

Ra  was  the  Egyptian  sun-god,  and  was  especially  wor- 
shipped at  Heliopolis.  Obelisks,  according  to  some,*  repre- 
sented his  rays,  and  were  always,  or  usually,  erected  in  his 
honor.  Heliopolis  was  certainly  one  of  the  places  which 
were  thus  adoi-ned,  for  one  of  the 
few  which  still  stand  erect  in  Egypt 
is  on  the  site  of  that  city.f  The 
kings  for  the  most  part  considered 
Ra  their  special  patron  and  pro- 
tector ;  nay,  they  went  so  far  as  to 
identify  themselves  with  him,  to  use 
his  titles  as  their  own,  and  to  adopt 
his  name  as  the  ordinary  prefix  to 
their  own  names  and  titles.  This 
is  believed  by  many  to  have  been 
the  origin  of  the  word  Pharaoh,  J 
which  was,  it  is  thought,  the  He- 
brew  rendering  of  Ph'  Rn=  "  the 
sun."  Ra  is  sometimes  represented 
simply  by  a  disk,  colored  red,  or 
by  such  a  disk  with  the  ankh,  or 
symbol  of  life,  attached  to  it ;  but 
more  commonly  he  has  the  figure  of 
a  man,  with  a  hawk's  head,  and 
above  it  the  disk,  accompanied  by  plumes,  or  by  a  serpent. 
The  beetle  (scarabasus)  was  one  of  his  emblems.  As  for  his 
titles,  they  are  too  numerous  to  mention  :  the  "  Litany  of 
Ra,"§  alone  contains  some  hundreds  of  them. 

Osiris  was  properly  a  form  of  Ra.  He  was  the  light  of 
the  lower  world,  the  sun  from  the  time  that  he  sinks  below 
the  horizon  in  the  west  to  the  hour  when  he  reappears  above 
the  eastern  horizon  in  the  morning..  This  physical  idea  was, 
however,  at  a  later  date  modified,  and  Osiris  was  generally 
recognized  as  the  perpetually  presiding  lord  of  the  lower 

*  Zocga,  "  De  Obeliscis;  "  Pltn.  "H.  N."  xxxvi.  8,  s.  14. 

t  See  the  Frontispiece  of  this  book. 

t  So  Wilkinson  (in  Rawlinson's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.  p.  181.  note 
1)  and  others.  But  the  derivation  from  Ph'ouro,  "  the  king,"  is 
perhaps  as  probable. 

§  See  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.  pp.  105-128. 


KA. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIKW  EGYPTIANS.     21 

world,  the  king  and  the  judge  of  Hades  or  Araenti.  His 
worship  was  universal  throughout  Egypt,*  but  his  chief 
temples  were  at  Abydos  and  Phila?.  Ordinarily  he  was  rep- 
resented in  a  mummied  form  as  the  god  of  the  dead,  but 
sometimes  he  appears  as  a  living  man,  standing  or  walking. 
He  carries  in  his  two  hands  the  crook  and  the  flagellum  or 
whip,  and  commonly  wears  on  his  head  the  crown  of  Upper 
Egypt,  with  a  plume  of  ostrich  feather  on  either  side  of  it. 
A  special  character  of  goodness  attaches  to  him.  We  find 
him  called,  "the  manifester  of  good,"  "full  of  goodness  and 
truth,"  "the  beneficent  spirit,"  "beneficent  in  will  and 
words,"  "  mild  of  heart,"  "  and  fair  and  beloved  of  all  who 
see  him."  f 

Neith,  or  Net,  the  goddess  of  Sais,  was  identified  by  the 
Greeks  J  with  their  Athene  (Minerva),  but  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  really  a  goddess  of  wisdom.  She  was  the 
female  correspondent  of  Khem,  the  conceptive  element  in 
nature,  as  he  was  the  generative.  Her  titles  are,  "the 
mother,"  "  the  mistress  of  heaven,"  "  the  elder  goddess."  § 
She  is  represented  in  the  form  of  a  woman  standing  and 
wearing  on  her  head  the  crown  of  Lower  Egypt.  In  her  left 
hand  she  carries  a  sceptre,  sometimes  accompanied  by  a  bow 
and  two  arrows ;  in  her  right  she  bears  the  ankJi,  or  symbol 
of  life.  One  of  the  signs  with  which  her  name  is  written 
resembles  a  shuttle ;  from  which  fact,  combined  with  her 
carrying  a  bow  and  arrows,  she  has  been  called,  "  the  goddess 
of  war  and  weaving."  ||  Her  worship  was  not  very  widely 
spread,  nor  is  she  often  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions. 

No  part  of  the  Egyptian  religion  was  so  much  developed 
and  so  multiplex  as  their  sun  worship. IT  Besides  Ra  and 
Osiris  there  were  at  least  six  other  deities  who  had  a  dis- 
tinctly solar  character.  These  were  Shu,  Aten,  Horus  or 
Harmachis,  Turn  or  Atum,  Khepra,  and  JMentu.  Shu  was  the 

•  Herod,  il.  42,  with  Wilkinson's  note. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv .  pp.  09-103 ;  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient 
Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  p.  820. 

t  Plat.  "  Tim."  p.  22,  A;  Cic.  "  De  Nat.  Deor."  iii.  p.  248. 

§  Bunsen,  "Egypt's  Place,"  vol.  i.  p.  380  ;  Wilkinson,  "Ancient 
Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  p.  285. 

||  Birch,  "  Guide  to  Museum,"  p.  13. 

II"  Birch  goes  as  far  as  to  say,  that  "  most  of  the  gods  were  con- 
nected with  the  sun,  and  represented  that  luminary  in  its  passage 
through  the  upper  or  lower  hemisphere"  ("Guide,"  p.  11);  but  this 
seems  tobe  an  exaggeration. 


22 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD. 


sun's  light,  Aten  the  sun's  disk,  Har,  or  Har-em-aku  (Horus 
or  Harmachis),  the  sun  at  his  rising ;  Turn  (or  Atum)  the  same 
luminary  at  his  setting;  Khepra  was  the  life-giving  power  of 
the  sun;  while  Mentu  was  a  provincial  sun-god,  adopted 
into  the  general  pantheon.  Athor,  moreover,  the  mother  of 
Ra,  and  Isis,  the  sister  and  wife  of  Osiris,  were  in  some  sort 
sun-goddesses,  and  bore  upon  their  heads  the  disk  of  Ra,  to 
mark  their  close  connection  with  the  great  luminary. 


THOTH. 

Compared  with  the  worship  of  the  sun,  that  of  th-e  moor, 
was  quite  secondary  and  insignificant.  Two  gods  only, 
Khons  and  Thoth,  had  properly  speaking,  a  lunar  character.* 
Of  these  Khons  was  the  moon-god  simply,  while  Thoth  com- 
bined with  his  lunar  aspect,  somewhat  curiously,  the  charac- 
ter of  "  the  god  of  letters."  He  was  represented  with  the 
head  of  an  ibis ;  and  the  ibis  and  cynocephalous  ape  were 
sacred  to  him.  Both  he  and  Khons  commonly  bear  on  their 
heads  a  crescent  and  disk,  emblematic  respectively  of  the 
new  and  the  full  moon. 

•  Representations  of  Osiris  are  found  as  Osiris-Aah  (Birch, 
"Guide  to  Museum,"  p.  15),  or  "  Osiris,  the  moon  god  ;"  but  these 
are  purely  abnormal. 


THK  UELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.       23 

Other  deities  of  some  importance  in  the  religious  system 
were  Maut,  the  consort  of  Ammon,  who  represented  matter 
or  nature ;  Sati,  the  consort  of  Kneph,  a  sort  of  Egyptian 
Juno ;  Sekhet,  the  consort  of  Phthah,  usually  represented  as 
lion-headed,  or  cat-headed ;  Seb,  the  Egyptian  Saturn  ; 
Hanhar  (Onuris),  the  Egyptian  Mars;  Sabak  or  Savak,  the 
crocodile-headed  god ;  An uke,  a  war  goddess ;  Nebta 
(Nephthys),  sister  of  Osiris  and  Isis;  Nut  or  Netpe,  goddess 
of  the  firmament ;  and  Ma,  goddess  of  truth.  The  Egyptians 
had  also  gods  of  taste  and  touch,  of  silence,  of  writing,  of 
medicine,  of  the  harvest,  etc.  Almost  any  fact  of  nature, 
almost  any  act  of  man,  might  be  taken  separately  and  per- 


TRIAD  OF  SAVAK-RA,  ATHOR,  AND  KHONS. 

sonified,  the  personification  becoming  thenceforth  a  god  or 
goddess. 

A  class  of  deities  possessing  a  very  peculiar  character 
remains  to  be  noticed.  These  are  the  malevolent  deities. 
Set  or  Sutech,  the  great  enemy  of  Osiris,  a  god  with  the 
head  of  a  griffin  or  giraffe ;  Bes,  according  to  some,*  the  god 

*  So  Wilkinson  ("Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  p.  431V  Others 
regard  Bes  as  simply  a  name  of  Set  or  Typhou  (Birch,  "  Dictionary 
of  Hieroglyphics,'  p.  581). 


24          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

of  death  ,  Taouris  the  wife  of  Bes  ;  and  Apap,  or  Apepi,  the 
great  serpent,  generally  represented  as  slain  byllorus.*  All 
these  were  distinctly  malignant  and  evil  deities  ;  their  rep- 
resentations were,  in  every  case,  more  or  less  hideous  and 
grotesque ;  they  were  all  feared  and  hated,  but  nevertheless 
worshipped ;  their  figures  were  worn  as  charms,  and  even 
temples  were  built  in  their  honor. 

While  the  entire  pantheon  of  Egypt  was  thus  multiform 
and  manifold,  practically  the  deities  who  received  worship  in 
each  several  town  and  district  were  but  few.  Local  triads 
were  almost  universally  recognized,  and  in  each  place  its 
special  triad  monopolized,  so  to  say,  the  religious  regards  of 
the  inhabitants.^  At  Memphis,  the  established  triad  con- 
sisted of  Phthah,  Sekhet,  and  Turn ;  at  Thebes,  of  Amnion- 
lla,  Maut,  and  Khons ;  at  Heliopolis  of  Ra,  Nebhept  (== 
Athor),  and  Horus ;  at  Elephantine  of  Kneph,  Sati,  and 
Anuke ;  at  Abydos,  of  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Horus ;  at  Ombos 
of  Savak,  Athor,  and  Khons  ;  at  Silsilis,  of  Ra,  Phthah,  and 
the  Xile  god,  Hapi  or  Neilus.  Sometimes  a  fourth  god  or 
goddess  was  associated  with  the  principal  three,  as  Bast  at 
Memphis,  Neith  at  Thebes,  Nephthysat  Abydos,  and  Halt  at 
Elephantine  ;  but  the  fourth  was  always  quite  subordinate. 
Occasionally  a  city  recognized  more  than  one  triad  ;  for 
instance,  Silsilis  held  in  honor,  besides  Ra,  Phthah,  and 
Hapi,  a  triad  consisting  of  Set,  Thoth,  and  Netpe;  and 
another  comprising  Ammon,  Ra,  and  Savak. 

Another  peculiar  feature  of  the  Egyptian  religion,  and 
one  which,  though  it  may  have  had  some  redeeming  points, t 
must  be  pronounced  on  the  whole  low  and  degrading,  was 
the  worship  of  live  animals.  In  the  first  instance,  certain 
animals  seem  to  have  been  assumed  as  emblems  of  certain 
gods,  §  from  some  real  or  fancied  analogy  ;  after  which,  in 
course  of  time,  the  animals  themselves  came  to  be  regarded 
as  sacred ;  specimens  of  them  were  attached  to  the  temples, 
kept  in  shrines,  and  carefully  fed  and  nurtured  during  life, 

•Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  "Supplement,"  pi.  42. 

t  "Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  "Introduction,"  p.  xi. ;  Wil- 
kinson, "Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  pp.  230-233. 

J  The  sacred  character  of  cows  and  heifers  secured  a  continual  in- 
CMM6  in  the  stock  of  cattle;  that  of  cats  and  ichneumons,  of  ibises. 
hawks,  and  vultures,  preserved  those  useful  animals,  of  which  the 
two  former  kept  the  houses  free  from  mice  and  snakes,  while  the 
three  latter  were  admirable  scavengers. 

§  As  the  vulture  of  Maut,  the  ibis  of  Thoth,  and  the  ram  of 
Kneph,  etc. 


THE  11ELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      25 

and  at  death  embalmed  and  buried  in  sacred  repositories, 
while  the  entire  species  had  a  sacred  character  assigned 
to  it  universally  or  partially.  Animals  of  these  kinds  it 
was  unlawful  to  kill,  either  in  Egypt  generally,  or  within 
the  limits  within  which  they  were  honored  ;  if  they  died, 
their  death  was  mourned,  and  they  were  carefully  buried  bv 
those  who  found  them,  or  to  whom  they  belonged,  with 
more  or  less  ceremony.*  Of  animals  universally  sacred  the 
principal  were  cows  and  heifers,  which  were  sacred  to 
Athor ;  cynocephalous  apes  and  ibises,  which  were  sacred 
to  Thoth  ;  cats,  which  were  sacred  to  Bast  ;  hawks,  which 
were  sacred  to  Ra ;  and  perhaps  asps,  though  this  is  un- 
certain.f  Sheep,  especially  rams  were  generally  regarded 
as  sacred,  being  emblems  of  Kneph  ;  and  dogs,  though  not 
assigned  to  any  special  deity,  held  a  similar  position. 

The  worship  of  other  animals  had  a  more  local  character. 
Lions,  emblems  of  Horus  and  Turn,  were  sacred  at  Leontop- 
olis ;  crocodiles,  emblems  of  Savak,  at  Crocodilopolis  and 
in  the  Fayoum  generally ;  wolves  or  jackals,  emblems  of 
Anubis,  at  Lycopolis ;  shrew-mice,  emblems  of  Maut,  at 
Buto  and  Athribis ;  hippopotami,  emblems  of  Set  andTaou- 
ris,  at  Papremis  ;  antelopes  at  Coptos ;  ibexes  and  frogs  at 
Thebes  ;  goats  at  Mendu ;  vultures  at  Eileithyia  ;  fish  at 
Latopolis ;  ichneumons  at  Ileracleopolis  ;  and  other  animals 
elsewhere.  Each  town  was  jealous  for  the  honor  of  its 
special  favorites  ;  and  quarrels  broke  out  between  city  and 
city,  or  between  province  and  province,  in  connection  with 
their  sacred  animals,  which  led  in  some  cases  to  violent  and 
prolonged  conflicts,  iu  others  to  a  smouldering  but  perma- 
nent hostility.  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  of  the  relig- 
ious sentiment  of  the  nation  was  absorbed  by  these  unworthy 
objects  ;  but  there  is  no  just  ground  for  believing  that  the 
animal  worship,  absurd  as  it  may  have  been,  interfered  seri- 
ously with  the  reverence  and  respect  which  were  paid  to 
the  proper  deities. 

The  worst,  and  most  pronounced  form  of  the  animal 
worship  has  still  to  be  mentioned.  In  some  instances  the 
belief  was,  not  that  a  particular  class  of  animals  had  a  sacred 
character,  but  that  a  deity  absolutely  became  incarnate  in 
an  individual  animal,  and  so  remained  till  its  death.  Ani- 
mals to  which  this  was  supposed  to  have  happened  were 

*  Herod,  ii.  66,  67,  with  Wilkinson's  notes. 

t  So  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  v.  p.  243. 


26         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

actual  gods,  and  received  the  most  profound  veneration  that 
it  was  possible  to  pay.  Such  were  the  Apis  bulls,  of  which 
a  succession  was  maintained  at  Memphis,  in  the  temple  of 
Phthah,  incarnations  according  to  some,  of  Phthah,*  accord- 
ing to  others  of  Osiris,  f  which  were  among  the  objects  of 
worship  most  venerated  by  the  Egyptians.  Such,  again, 
were  the  Mnevis  bulls  of  Heliopolis,  incarnations  of  Ra  or 
Turn,  and  the  Bacis  or  Pacis  bulls  of  Hermonthis,  incarna- 
tions of  Horus.  These  beasts,  maintained  at  the  cost  of  the 
priestly  communities  in  the  great  temples  of  their  respec- 
tive cities,  were  perpetually  adored  and  prayed  to  by  thous- 
ands during  their  lives,  and  at  their  deaths  were  entombed 
witn  the  utmost  care  in  huge  sarcophagi,  while  all  Egypt 
vent  into  mourning  on  account  of  their  decease. 

The  external  manifestation  of  religion  in  Egypt  was 
magnificent  and  splendid.  Nowhere  did  religious  cere- 
monial occupy  a  larger  part  in  the  life  of  a  people.  In  each 
city  and  town,  one  or  more  grand  structures  upreared  them- 
selves above  the  rest  of  the  buildings,  enriched  with  all  that 
Egyptian  art  could  supply  of  painted  and  sculptured  decora- 
tion, dedicated  to  the  honor  and  bearing  the  name  of  some 
divinity  or  divinities.  The  image  of  the  great  god  of  the 
place  occupied  the  central  shrine,  accompanied  in  most  in- 
stances by  two  or  three  contemplar  gods  or  goddesses. 
Around  were  £he  chambers  of  the  priests,  and  further  off 
court  after  court,  some  pillared,  some  colonnaded  and  all 
more  or  less  adorned  with  sculpture  and  painting,  the  en- 
trance to  them  lying  through  long  avenues  of  sphinxes  or 
obelisks,  which  conducted  to  the  propylaea,  two  gigantic 
towers  flanking  the  main  doorway.  $  A  perpetual  cere- 
monial of  the  richest  kind  went  on  within  the  temple  walls ; 
scores  of  priests,  with  shaven  heads  and  clean  white  linen 
garments,  §  crowded  the  courts  and  corridors  ;  long  pro- 
cessions made  their  way  up  or  down  the  sphinx  avenues, 
incense  floated  in  thc_air,  strains  of  music  resounded  with- 
out pause,  hundreds  of  victims  were  sacrificed ;  everywhere 

*  See  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  "  Introduction," 
p.  xii. 

t  Wilkinson,  in  Rawlinson's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.  p.  428,  note  2. 

J  These  towers  have  been  compared,  with  some  reason,  to  those 
which  commonly  adorn  the  western  f :u:;i<li-  of  our  cathedrals.  (Fer» 
guason,  "History  of  Architecture,"  voL  i.  p.  117.) 

§  Herod,  ii.  37. 


28         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

a  holiday  crowd,  in  bright  array,  cheerful  and  happy,  bore 
its  part  iu  the  festival,  and  made  the  courts  re-echo  with 
their  joyous  acclamations.  The  worship  was  conducted 
chiefly  by  means  of  rhythmic  litanies  or  hymns,  in  which 
prayer  and  praise  were  blended,  the  latter  predominating.* 
Ceremony  followed  ceremony.  The  calendar  was  crowded 
with  festivals ;  and  a  week  rarely  passed  without  the  per- 
formance of  some  special  rite,  some  annual  observance,  hav- 
ing its  own  peculiar  attractions.  Foreigners  beheld  with 
astonishment  the  almost  perpetual  round  of  religious  ser- 
vices, which  engaged,  or  at  any  rate  seemed  \,o  engage,  the 
main  attention  of  all  ranks  of  the  people. 

Belief  in  a  future  life  was  a  main  principle  of  the  Egyp- 
tian religion.  Immediately  after  death,  the  soul,  it  was 
taught,  descended  into  the  lower  world  (Amenti),  and  was 
conducted  to  the  "  Hall  of  Truth,"  where  it  was  judged  in 
the  presence  of  Osiris,  and  of  his  forty-two  assessors,  the 
"  Lords  of  Truth,"  and  judges  of  the  dead.  Anubis,  the 
son  of  Osiris,  who  was  called  "  the  director  of  the  weight," 
brought  forth  a  pair  of  scales,  and  after  placing  in  one  scale 
a  figure  or  emblem  of  Truth,  set  in  the  other  a  vase  con- 
taining the  good  deeds  of  the  deceased,  Thoth  standing  by 
the  while,  with  a  tablet  in  his  hand,  whereon  to  record  the 
result.f  If  the  good  deeds  were  sufficient,  if  they  weighed 
down  the  scale  wherein  they  were  placed,  then  the  happy 
soul  was  permitted  to  enter  "  the  boat  of  the  sun,"  and  was 
conducted  by  good  spirits  to  the  Elysian  fields  (Aahlu),  to 
the  "  Pools  of  Peace,  and  the  dwelling-places  of  the  blest. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  the  good  deeds  were  insufficient,  if  the 
scale  remained  suspended  in  the  air,  then  the  unhappy  soul 
was  sentenced,  according  to  the  degree  of  its  ill  desei'ts,  to 
go  through  a  round  of  transmigrations  in  the  bodies  of 
animals  more  or  less  unclean  ;  the  number,  nature,  and  dura- 
tion of  the  transmigrations  depended  on  the  degree  of  the 
deceased's  demerits,  and  the  consequent  length  and  severity 
of  the  punishment  which  he  deserved,  or  the  purification 

*  See  the  "  Litany  of  Ra,"  and  the  "  Hymns fl  to  Osiris,  Amen, 
Amen-Ra.,  and  Ra  Ilarmachis,  published  in  "Records  of  the  Past," 
vol.  ii.  pp.  106-134;  vol.  iv.  pp.  99-104;  vol.  vi.  pp.  99-101;  and  vol. 
viii.  pp.  131-134. 

t  Wilkinson,  "Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  v.  pp.  314,  315.  Repre- 
sentations of  the  scene  are  frequent  in  the  tombs,  and  in  the  many 
copies  of  the  "  Ritual  of  the  Dead."  (See  the  accompanying  wood- 
cut. ) 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.     29 

which  he  needed.  Ultimately,  if  after  many  trials  sufficient 
purity  was  not  attained,  the  wicked  soul,  which  had  proved 
itself  incurable,  underwent  a  final  sentence  at  the  hands  of 
Osiris,  judge  of  the  dead,  and,  being  condemned  to  complete 
and  absolute  annihilation,  was  destroyed  upon  the  steps  of 
Heaven  by  Shu,  the  Lord  of  Light.*  The  good  soul,  hav- 
ing first  been  freed  from  its  infirmities  by  passing  through 
the  basin  of  purgatorial  fire  guarded  by  the  four  ape-faced 
genii,  was  made  the  companion  of  Osiris,  for  a  pei'iod  of 
three  thousand  years,  after  which  it  returned  from  Amenti, 


MUMMY    AND    DISEMBODIED    SPIRIT. 

re-entered  its  former  body,  rose  from  the  dead,  and  lived 
once  more  a  human  life  upon  the  earth.  This  process  was 
gone  through  again  and  again,  until  a  certain  mystic  cycle 
of  years  became  complete,  when,  to  crown  all,  the  good  and 
blessed  attained  the  final  joy  of  union  with  God,  being 
absorbed  into  the  divine  essence  from  which  they  had  once 
emanated,  and  so  attaining  the  full  perfection  and  true  end 
of  their  existence. 

With  their  belief  in  a  future  life,  and  their  opinions  re- 
garding the  fate  of  good  and  bad  souls,  were  bound  up  in 

*  Birch.  "  Guide  to  Museum,"  pp.  14,  15. 


30         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

the  closest  way  their  arrangements  with  respect  to  dead 
bodies,  and  their  careful  and  elaborate  preparation  of  tombs. 
As  each  man  hoped  to  be  among  those  who  would  be  re- 
ceived into  Aahlu,  and  after  dwelling  with  Osiris  for  three 
thousand  years  would  return  to  earth,  and  re-enter  their  old 
bodies,  it  was  requisite  that  bodies  should  be  enabled  to 
resist  decay  for  that  long  period.  Hence  the  entire  sys- 
tem of  embalming,  of  swathing  in  linen,  and  then  burying 
in  stone  sarcophagi  covered  with  lids  that  it  was  scarcely 
possible  to  lift,  or  even  to  move.  Hence  if  a  man  was 
wealthy,  he  spent  enormous  sums  of  making  himself  a  safe 
and  commodious,  an  elegant  and  decorated  tomb ;  either 
piling  a  pyramid  over  his  sarcophagus,  or  excavating  deep 
into  the  solid  rock,  and  preparing  for  his  resting-place  a 
remote  chamber  at  the  end  of  a  long  series  of  galleries. 
With  the  notion,  probably,  that  it  would  be  of  use  to  him 
in  his  passage  through  Amenti  to  Aahlu,  he  took  care  to 
have  the  most  important  passages  from  the  sacred  book 
entitled  the  "  Ritual  of  the  Dead,"  either  inscribed  on  the 
inner  part  of  the  coffin  in  which  he  was  to  lie,  or  painted  on 
his  mummy  bandages,  or  engraved  upon  the  inner  walls  of 
his  tomb.*  Sometimes  he  even  had  a  complete  copy  of  the 
book  buried  with  him,  no  doubt  for  reference,  it  his  memory 
failed  to  supply  him  with  the  right  invocation  or  prayer  at 
the  dangerous  parts  of  his  long  journey. 

The  thought  of  death,  of  judgment,  of  a  sentence  to 
happiness  or  misery  according  to  the  life  led  on  earth,  was 
thus  familiar  to  the  ordinary  Egyptian.  His  theological 
notions  were  confused  and  fantastical ;  but  he  had  a  strong 
and  abiding  conviction  that  his  fate  after  death  would 
depend  on  his  conduct  during  his  life  on  earth,  and  especially 
on  his  observance  of  the  moral  law  and  performance  of  his 
various  duties.* 

*  Bunsen,  "  Egypt's  Place."  vol.  v.  pp.  127-129. 

t  Sec  Birch,  "Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  46:— "The 
Egyptian  enjoyed  all  the  pleasures  of  existence,  and  delighted  more 
in  the  arts  of  peace  than  war.  In  his  religious  belief  the  idea  of  a 
future  state,  and  prohahly  of  the  transmigration  of  souls,  was  ever 
present  to  his  mind,  while — and  his  long  life  was  one  preparation  for 
death — to  be  devoted  or  pious  to  the  gods,  obedient  to  the  wishes  of 
his  sovereign,  affectionate  toward  his  wife  and  children,  were  the 
maxims  inculcated  for  his  domestic  or  inner  life.  Beyond  that  circle 
his  duties  to  mankind  were  comprised  in  giving  bread  to  the  hungry, 
drink  to  the  thirsty,  clothes  to  the  nakcn,  oil  to  the  wounded,  and 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.      31 

The  better  educated  Egyptian  had  a  firmer  grasp  of  the 
truths  of  natural  religion.  Below  the  popular  mythology 
there  lay  concealed  from  general  view,  but  open  to  the  edu- 
cated classes,  a  theological  system  which  was  not  far  re- 
moved from  pure  "  natural  theology."  The  real  essential 
unity  of  the  divine  nature  was  taught  and  insisted  on.  The 
sacred  texts  spoke  of  a  single  being,  "  the  sole  producer  of 
all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  himself  not  produced  of  any," 
"  the  only  true  living  God,  self-originated,"  "  who  exists 
from  the  beginning,"  "  who  has  made  all  things,  but  has  not 
himself  been  made."*  This  being  seems  never  to  have  been 
represented  by  any  material,  even  symbolical  form.t  It  is 
thought  that  he  had  no  name,  or,  if  he  had,  that  it  must 
have  been  unlawful  to  pronounce  or  write  it.}  Even  Am- 
mon,  the  "  concealed  God,"  was  a  mere  external  adumbra- 
tion of  this  mysterious  and  unapproachable  deity.  He  was 
a  pure  spirit,  perfect  in  every  respect,  all-wrise,  all-mighty, 
supremely,  perfectly  good. 

Those  who  grasped  this  great  truth  understood  clearly 
that  the  many  gods  of  the  popular  mythology  were  mere 
names,  personified  attributes  of  the  one  true  Deity,  or  parts 
of  the  nature  which  he  had  created,  considered  as  informed 
and  inspired  by  him.  Num.  or  Kneph  represented  the  crea- 
tive mind,  Phthah  the  creative  hand,  or  act  of  creating; 
Maut  represented  matter,  Ra  the  sun,  Khons  the  moon, 
Seb  the  earth,  Khem  the  generative  power  in  nature,  Keith 
the  conceptive  power,  Nut  the  upper  hemisphere  of  heaven, 
Athor  the  lower  world  or  under  hemisphere  ;  Thoth  per- 
sonified the  divine  wisdom,  Animon  the  divine  mysterious- 
ness  or  incomprehensibility,  Osiris  the  divine  goodness.  It 
may  not  be  always  easy  to  say  what  is  the  exact  quality,  act, 
or  part  of  nature  which  is  represented  by  each  god  and 
goddess  ;  but  the  principle  was  clear  and  beyond  a  doubt. 
No  educated  Egyptian  priest  certainly,  probably  no  edu- 

burial  to  the  dead.  On  the  exercise  of  good  workshe  rested  Irs  hopes 
of  passing  the  ordeal  of  the  future  and  great  judgment,  and  reach- 
ing the  Aahlu  or  Elysiau  fields,  and  Pools  of  Peace  of  the  Egyptian 
paradise." 

*  Lenorraant,  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  i.  p.  522.  Sim- 
ilar phrases  are  frequent  in  all  the  religious  inscriptions,  (See 
"  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  129-132  ;  vol.  iv.  pp.  99-100;  voL 
vi.  100,  etc.) 

t  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  p.  178. 

}  Ibid. 


32          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOELD. 

cated  laymen,  conceived  of  the  popular  gods  as  really  sep- 
arate and  distinct  beings.  All  knew  that  thei-e  was  but  one 
god,  and  understood  that  when  worship  was  offered  to  Khem, 
or  Phthah,  or  Maut  or  Thoth,  or  Ammon,  the  one  god  was 
worshipped  under  some  one  of  his  forms,  or  in  some  one  of 
his  aspects.  Hence,  in  the  solemn  hymns  and  chants,  which 
were  composed  by  the  priests  to  be  used  in  the  various  fes- 
tivals, the  god  who  is  for  the  time  addressed  receives  all  the 
highest  titles  of  honor,  and  even  has  the  names  of  other 
gods  freely  assigned  to  him,  as  being  in  some  sort  identical 
with  them.  Thus  in  one  hymn,  Hapi,  the  Nile  god,  is  in- 
voked as  Ammon  and  Phthah  ;  *  in  another,  Osiris  as  Ra 
and  Thoth  ;  f  while  in  a  third  Ra  is  Khem  and  Ammon, 
Turn  and  Horns  and  Khepra  all  in  one,!  and  though  spoken 
of  as  "  begotten  of  Phthah,"  §  is  "  the  good  god,"  "  the 
chief  of  all  the  gods,"  "  the  ancient  of  heaven,"  "the  lord  of 
all  existences,"  "the  support  of  all  things." || 

It  is  not  altogether  easy  to  say  what  the  educated  Egyp- 
tian believed  with  respect  to  evil.  The  myth  of  Osiris  rep- 
resented him  as  persecuted  by  his  brother,  Set  or  Sutech, 
who  murdered  him  and  cut  up  his  body  into  several  pieces, 
after  which  he  was  m-aile  war  upon  by  Horus,  Osiris'  son, 
and  in  course  of  time  deposed  and  thrust  down  to  darkness. IT 
In  the  latter  mythology  Set  and  Bes,  Taouris  and  Apepi, 
were  distinctly  malignant  beings,  personifications,  appar- 
ently, of  an  evil  principle  ;  and  from  the  inscription,  and 
papyri  of  this  period,  we  should  gather  that  the  Egyptian 
religion  was  dualistic,  and  comprised  the  idea  of  a  constant 
and  interminable  struggle  between  the  powers  of  light  and 
darkness,  of  good  and  evil ;  a  struggle  in  which  there  was 
some  superiority  on  the  part  of  good,  but  no  complete  vic- 
tory, not  even  a  very  decided  preponderance.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  we  go  back  and  examine  carefully  the  more  ancient 
monuments  and  the  earlier  writings,  we  find  less  and  less 
trace  of  this  antagonism  ;  we  find  Set  or  Sutech  spoken  of 
as  "great,"  "glorious  ;  "  **  we  find  that  the  kings  identify 

•  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.   p.  107, 11,  4  and  11. 
t  I  Intl.  p.  103,  par.  24,  ad  Jin- 
J  Ibid.  vol.  Ji.  pp.  130,  131,  and  133. 
§  I  hid.  p.  120,   1.  20. 
II  Ibid.  11.  2-12. 

1  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  iv.  pp.  329-333. 
••  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.  p.  29. 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS.     33 

themselves  with  him,*  build  him  magnificent  temples,  and 
make  him  numerous  offerings.!  It  is  doubtful  whether  at 
this  time  any  notion  existed  of  evil  or  malignancy  attaching 
to  Set.  If  it  did,  we  must  suppose  the  early  creed  to  have 
been  that  "  the  bad  was  a  necessary  part  of  the  universal 
system,  and  inherent  in  all  things  equally  with  the  good  ;  "J 
and  so,  that  divine  honors  were  due  to  the  gods  represent- 
ing the  principles  of  disorder  and  evil  no  less  than  to  those 
representing  the  opposite  principles.  The  change  of  view 
with  regard  to  Set  may  have  been  connected  to  some  extent 
with  national  rivalries,  for  Set  was,  beyond  a  doubt,  the 
special  god  of  the  Hyksos,§  the  foreign  conquerors  of  Egypt, 
whom  after-ages  detested,  and  also  of  the  Khita  or  Hit- 
titesj  with  whom  the  Pharaohs  of  the  eighteenth,  nine- 
teenth and  twentieth  dynasties  were  engaged  in  constant 
hostilities. 

It  has  been  maintained  by  some  that  the  religion  of  the 
educated  Egyptians  comprised  a  recognition  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.  The  learned  Cudworth  in  the  seventeenth 
century  undertook  to  prove  that  a  doctrine  closely  resem- 
bling the  Christian  had  been  taught  by  the  Egyptian  priests 
many  centuries  before  Christ,  1[  and  some  moderns  have 
caught  at  his  statements,  and  laid  it  down  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  may  be  traced  to  an  Egyptian  source.  But 
there  is  really  not  the  slightest  ground  for  this  assertion. 
Cudworth's  arguments  were  long  ago  met  and  refuted  by 
Mosheim  ;  **  and  modern  investigation  of  the  Egyptian  re- 
mains has  but  confirmed  Mosheim's  conclusions.  The  Egyp- 
tians held  the  unity  of  God  ;  but  their  unity  had  within  it 
no  trinity.  God  with  them  was  absolutely  one  in  essence, 
and  when  divided  up,  was  divided,  not  into  three,  but  into 
a  multitude  of  aspects.  It  is  true  that  they  had  fancy  for 
triads  ;  but  the  triad  is  not  a  Trinity.  The  triads  are  not 
groups  of  persons,  but  of  attributes ;  the  three  are  not  co- 
equal, but  distinctly  the  reverse,  the  third  in  the  triad  being 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.  p.  76;  vol.  viii.  p.  75. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  27;  vol.  viii.  pp.  27-31. 

t  So  Wilkinson,  "Ancient  Egyptians."  vol.  iv.  p.  423. 

§  Birch,  "Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  75;  "Records  of 
the  Past,"  vol.  viii.  p.  3. 

II  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.  pp.  31,  32. 

IT  See  the  "  Intellectual  System  of  the  Universe,"  ch.  v.  p.  413. 
**  In  the  Latin  translation  of  Cudworth's  great  work,  notes  to  p. 
413. 


34           THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

always  subordinate  ;  nor  is  the  division  regarded  as  in  any 
case  exhaustive  of  the  divine  nature,  or  exclusive  of  other 
divisions.  Moreover,  as  already  observed,  the  triad  is  fre- 
quently enlarged  by  the  addition  of  a  fourth  person  or  char- 
acter, who  is  associated  as  closely  with  the  other  three  as 
they  are  with  each  other.  Cudworth's  view  must  therefore 
be  set  aside  as  altogether  imaginary ;  and  the  encomiast  of 
the  Egyptian  religion  must  content  himself  with  pointing 
out  that  a  real  monotheism  underlay  the  superficial  poly- 
theism, without  requiring  us  to  believe  that  even  the  wisest 
of  the  priests  had  any  knowledge  of  the  greatest  of  aY 
Christian  mysteries.* 

*  S««  Latin  translation  of  Cudworth's  great  work.  p.  28. 


RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS.   35 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

"  Bel  boweth  down,  Nebo  stoopeth." — ISAIAH  xlvi.  1. 
"Merodach  is  broken  in  pieces." — JER.  1.  2. 

THB  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  polytheism  differed  from 
the  Egyptian,  in  the  first  place,  by  being  less  multitudinous,* 
and  in  the  second,  by  having,  far  more  than  the  Egyptian, 
an  astral  character.  The  JVlesopotamian  system  was,  more- 
over, so  far  as  appears,  what  the  Egyptian  was  not,  a  belief 
in  really  distinct  gods.  The  great  personages  of  the  pan- 
theon have  for  the  most  part  their  own  peculiar  offices  and 
attributes ;  they  do  not  pass  the  one  into  the  other  ;  they 
do  not  assume  each  other's  names ;  they  do  not  combine  so 
as  to  produce  a  single  deity  out  of  several.  "VVe  have  no  in- 
dication in  the  literary  remains  of  Babylon  or  Assyria  of  any 
esoteric  religion,  no  evidence  on  which  we  can  lay  it  down 
that  the  conceptions  of  the  educated  upon  religious  subjects 
differed  seriously  from  those  of  the  lowest  ranks  of  wor- 
shippers.* Berosus,  who  was  a  Chaldaean  priest,  and  who 
should,  therefore,  if  there  was  any  such  system,  have  been 
well  acquainted  with  it,  has  in  hig  extant  fragments  nothing 
monotheistic,  nothing  to  distinguish  his  religious  views 
from  those  of  the  mass  of  his  countrymen.  According  to 
all  appearance,  the  religion  of  the  Babylonians  and  Assy- 
rians was  thus  a  real  polytheism,  a  worship  of  numerous 

*  It  is  true  that  the  inscriptions  speak  in  a  vague  way  of  "  four 
thousand,"  and  even  of  the  "  five  thousand  gods"  ("Records  of  the 
Past,"  vol.  vii.  p.  128;  Rawlinson,  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  p. 
101,  note  18).  But,  practically,  there  are  not  more  than  about 
twenty  dei'ies  who  obtain  frequent  mention. 

t  The  late  Mr.  Fox  Talbot  expressed  in  1873  a  somewhat  different 
opinion.  (Seethe  "  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeol- 
ogy?" vol.  ii.  p.  35. )  But  it  does  not  appear  to  me  that  he  made  out 
his  case. 


36         THE,  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

divinities,  whom  it  was  not  thought  necessary  to  trace  to  a 
single  stock,  who  were  essentially  on  a  par  the  one  with 
the  other,  and  who  divided  among  them  the  religious  regards 
of  the  people. 

An  account  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  religion 
must  thus  be,  in  the  main,  an  account  of  their  pantheon. 
From  the  character  of  their  gods,  from  the  actions  and  attri- 
butes assigned  to  them,  from  the  material  representations 
under  which  they  showed  them  forth,  we  must  gather  the 
tone  of  their  religious  thought,  the  nature  of  the  opinions 
which  they  entertained  concerning  the  mysterious  powers 
above  them  and  beyond  them,  whom  they  recognized  as 
divine  beings. 

In  each  country,  at  the  head  of  the  pantheon  stood  a  god, 
not  the  origin  of  the  others,  nor  in  any  real  sense  the  foun- 
tain of  divinity,  but  of  higher  rank  and  dignity  than  the 
rest,  primus  inter  pares,  ordinarily  named  first,  and  assigned 
the  titles  of  greatest  honor,  and  forming  the  principal  or  at 
least  the  highest  object  of  worship  both  to  the  kings  and 
people.  This  deity  is,  in  Assyria,  Asshur;  in  Babylonia,  II 
or  Ka.  Some  criticsf  are  of  opinion  that  the  two  gods  are 
essentially  one,  that  the  Assyrian  Asshur  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  II  or  Ra  localized  and  regarded  as  the  special 
god  of  Assyria,  the  protector  of  the  Assyrian  territory  and 
the  tutelary  divinity  of  the  Assyrian  kings.  But  this  view 
is  not  generally  accepted,  and  seems  to  rest  upon  no  sure 
foundation.  1  here  is  a  marked  difference  of  character  and 
position  between  the  Babylonian  II  in  the  Assyrian  Asshur. 
II  in  the  Babylonian  system  is  dim  and  shadowy  ;  his  attri- 
butes are,  comparatively  speaking,  indistinct  ;  and  his  very 
name  is  not  of  frequent  occurrence. t  Asshur  in  the  Assy- 
rian system  is,  of  all  the  gods,  by  far  the  most  pronounced 
and  prominent  figure.  No  name  occurs  so  often  as  his  ;  no 
god  has  attributes  so  clearly  marked  and  positive.  On  these 
grounds  it  has  been  generally  held,  that  the  two  are  not  to 
be  identified,  but  to  be  kept  distinct,  and  to  be  regarded 

•  See  the  Author's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  p.  92. 

t  As  M  Lenormant.  (See  his  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne," 
vol.  ii.,  p.  182.) 

t  In  the  six  Assyrian  volumes  of  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  I  find 
the  name  of  II  (or  El)  only  four  times  (vol.  v.,  pp.  21,  129;  vol.  vii., 
pp.  95,  WJ).  In  two  of  these  places  It  seems  to  stand  for  Bel,  who  is 
called  Bel-El  sometimes  (Ibid.  vol.  xi.,  p.  24). 


RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS.  37 

as  respectively  peculiar  to  the  two  nations.  We  proceed, 
therefore,  to  speak  of  them  separately. 

II  (or  Ra)  was,  as  already  remarked,  a  somewhat  shadowy 
being.  There  is  a  vagueness  about  the  name  itself,  which 
means  simply  "  god,"  and  can  scarcely  be  said  to  connote 
any  particular  attribute.  The  Babylonians  never  represent 
his  form,  and  they  frequently  omit  him  from  lists  which 
seem  to  contain  all  the  other  principal  gods.*  Yet  he  was 
certainly  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  pantheon,  and  in  the 
most  ancient  times  must  have  been  acknowledged  as  the 
tutelary  deity  of  Babylon  itself,  which  received  its  name 
of  Bab-il  (in  Accadian,  K(v-rci),  meaning  "  the  Gate  of  II," 
from  him.  He  seems  to  have  had  no  special  temple,  being 
probably  worshipped  in  all  temples  by  the  few  persons  who 
were  his  votaries.  His  name  was,  occasionally,  but  not 
very  frequently,  used  as  an  element  in  the  personal  appel- 
lations of  Babylonians. f 

Asshur,  the  Assyrian  substitute  for  II  or  Ra,  was  prim- 
arily and  especially  the  tutelary  deity  of  Assyria  and  of  the 
Assyrian  monarchs.  The  land  of  Assyria  bears  his  name 
without  any  modification  ;  its  inhabitants  are  "  his  ser- 
vants "  or  "his  people ;  "  its  troops  "  the  armies  of  the  god 
Asshur  ;  "  its  enemies  "  the  enemies  of  Asshur."  As  for 
the  kings,  they  stand  connected  with  him  in  respect  of 
almost  everything  which  they  do.  He  places  them  upon 
the  throne,  firmly  establishes  them  in  the  government, 
lengthens  the  years  of  their  reigns,  preserves  their  power, 
protects  their  forts  and  armies,  directs  their  expeditions, 
gives  them  victory  on  the  day  of  battle,  makes  their  name 
celebrated,  multiplies  their  offspring  greatly,  and  the  like. 
To  him  they  look  for  the  fulfilment  of  all  their  wishes,  and 
especially  for  the  establishment  of  their  sons,  and  their 
Sons'  sons,  on  the  Assyrian  throne  to  the  remotest  ages. 
Their  usual  phrase  when  speaking  of  him  is,  "Asshur,  my 
lord."  They  represent  themselves  as  passing  their  lives 
in  his  service.  It  is  to  spread  his  worship  that  they  carry 
on  their  wars.  They  fight,  ravage,  destroy  in  his  name. 

*  As,  for  instance,  that  of  Agu  kak-rimi  in  the  inscription  pub- 
lished in  vol.  vii.  of  the  "  Records,"  pp.  7,  £,  where  ten  "great  gods  " 
are  enumerated,  viz  :  Aim  and  Anunit,  Bel  and  Beltis,  Hea  and 
Davkina,  Zira  (Zira-banit  ?),  Sin,  Shamas,  and  Merodach,  but  no 
mention  is  made  of  II. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.  p.  15;  vol.  ix.  p,  99;  etc. 


38          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

Finally,  when  they  subdue  a  country,  they  are  careful  to 
"  set  up  the  emblems  of  Asshur,"  and  to  make  the  conquered 
people  conform  to  his  laws.* 

The  ordinary  titles  of  Asshur  are,  "the  great  lord," 
"the  king  of  all  the  gods,"  "  he  who  rules  supreme  ovel 
the  gods."  He  is  also  called,  occasionally,  "the  father  of 
the  gods,"  although  that  is  a  title  which  belongs  more  prop- 
erly to  Bel.  He  is  figured  as  a  man  with  a  horned  cap, 
and  often  carrying  a  bow,  issuing  from  the  middle  of  a 
winged  circle,  and  either  shooting  an  arrow,  or  stretching 
forth  his  hand,  as  if  to  aid  or  smite.  The  winged 
circle  by  itself  is  also  used  as  his  emblem,  and  probably 
denotes  his  ubiquity  and  eternity,  as  the  human  form 
does  his  intelligence,  and  the  horned  cap  his  power. 
This  emblem,  with  or  without  the  human  figure,  is  an 
almost  invariable  accompaniment  of  Assyrian  royalty. 
The  great  king  wears  it  embroidered  upon  his  robes, 
carries  it  engraved  upon  his  seal  or  cylinder,  rep- 
resents itabove  his  head  in  the  rock-tablets  whereon  he 
carves  his  image,  stands  or  kneels  in 
adoration  before  it,  fights  under  its 
shadow,  under  its  protection  returns 
victorious,  places  it  conspicuously  upon 
his  obelisk.  And  in  all  these  repre- 
ASSHUR.  sentations,  it  is  remarkable  how  he  makes 

the  emblem  conform  to  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is 
himself  engaged  at  the  time.  Where  he  is  fighting,  Asshur, 
too,  has  his  arrow  upon  the  string,  and  points  it  against 
the  monarch's  adversaries.  When  he  is  returning  home 
victorious,  with  the  disused  bow  in  his  left  hand,  and  his 
right  hand  outstretched  and  elevated,  Asshur,  too,  has  the 
same  attitude.  In  peaceful  scenes  the  bow  disappears 
altogether.  If  the  king  worships,  the  god  holds  out  his 
hand  to  aid ;  if  he  is  engaged  in  secular  acts,  the  Divine 
presence  is  thought  to  be  sufficiently  marked  by  the  circle 
and  the  wings  without  the  human  figure. f 

In  immediate  succession  to  Asshur  in  Assyria  and  II  in 
Babylonia,  we  find  in  both  countries  a  triad,  consisting  of 
Anu,  Bel,  and  Hea  or  Hoa.  These  three  are  called,  par 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  1  p.  17;  vol.  ill.  pp.  86,  93,  95,  96; 
vol.  v.  pp.  14,  15,  etc.;  vol.  ix.  pp.  5,  8,  9,  etc. 

t  See  the  Author's  "  Ancieut  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  501. 


RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLOYIANS.  39 

excellence,  "  the  great  gods."  *  In  execrations  they  are 
separated  off  from  all  the  other  deities,  and  placed  together 
in  a  clause  which  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  curses. 
In  invocations  their  names  follow,  for  the  most  part,  imme- 
diately after  the  name  of  Asshur ;  and  this  is  their  usual 
and  proper  position  in  all  complete  lists  of  the  chief  gods.f 
Anu  and  Bel  in  the  Babylonian  system  are  brothers,  both 
being  sons  of  II  or  Ra ;  but  this  relationship  is  scarcely 
acknowledged  in  Assyria.  Hoa  in  both  countries  stands 
apart,  unconnected  with  the  other  two,  and,  indeed,  un- 
connected with  any  of  the  other  gods,  except  with  such  as 
are  his  offspring. 

It  has  been  conjectured  J  that  in  this  triad  we  have  a 
cosmogonic  myth,  and  that  the  three  deities  represent,  Anu, 
the  primordial  chaos,  or  matter  without  form ;  Hoa,  life 
and  intelligence,  considered  as  moving  in  and  animating 
matter ;  and  Bel,  the  organizing  and  creating  spirit,  by 
which  matter  was  actually  brought  into  subjection,  and  the 
material  universe  arranged  in  an  orderly  way.  But  it  may 
be  questioned  whether  the  veil  which  hides  the  esoteric 
meaning  of  the  Assyrian  religion  has  been  as  yet  suffi- 
ciently lifted  to  entitle  such  conjectures  to  much  attention. 
Our  own  belief  is  that  Anu,  Bel,  and  Hoa,  were  originally 
the  gods  of  the  earth,  of  the  heaven,  and  of  the  waters, 
thus  corresponding  in  the  main  to  the  classical  Pluto,  Zeus 
or  Jupiter,  and  Poseidon  or  Neptune,  who  divided  between 
them  the  dominion  over  the  visible  creation.  But  such 
notions  became,  in  course  of  time,  overlaid  to  a  great  ex- 
tent with  others ;  and  though  Hoa  continued  always  more 
or  less  of  a  water  deity,  Anu  and  Bel  ceased  to  have 
peculiar  spheres,  and  became  merely  "great  gods,"  with 
a  general  superintendence  over  the  world,  and  with  no  very 
marked  difference  of  powers. 

Anu  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  "  the  old  Anu,"  "  the 
original  chief,"  "the  king  of  the  lower  world,"  and  "the 
lord  of  spirits  and  demons."  There  is  one  text  in  which 
he  seems  to  be  called  "  the  father  of  the  gods,"  but  the 
reading  is  doubtful.  We  cannot  identify  as  his  any  of 

•  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.  p.  121;  vol.  ix.  pp.  100,  106,  etc. 

t  *'  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.  p.  83;  vol.  v.  p.  29;  vol.  vii.  p.  7; 
vol.  ix.  p.  23,  etc. 

t  See  Lenormant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  182, 
183. 


40         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.  ' 

the  divine  forms  on  the  Assyrian  or  Babylonian  monu- 
ments, nor  can  we  assign  to  him  any  emblem,  excepting 
that  of  the  single  upright  wedge,  which  represents  him  on 
the  Chaldaean  numeration  tablets.  This  single  wedge  has 
the  numerical  power  of  sixty,  and  sixty  appears  to  have 
been  assigned  to  Anu  as  his  special  number.  Though 
a  "  great  god,"  he  was  not  one  toward  whom  much  pref- 
erence was  shown.  His  name  is  scarcely  ever  found  as  an 
element  in  royal  or  other  appellations :  the  kings  do  not 
very  often  mention  him ;  and  only  one  monarch  speaks 
of  himself  as  his  special  votary.* 

The  god  Bel,  familiarly  known  to  us  both  from  Scripture  f 
and  from  the  Apocrypha,  $  is  one  of  the  most  marked  and 
striking  figures  in  the  pantheon  alike  of  Babylonia  and  of 
Assyria.  Bel  is  the  "  god  of  lords,"  "  the  father  of  the 
gods,"  "the  creator,"  "the  mighty  prince,"  and  "the  just 
prince  of  the  gods."  He  plays  a  leading  part  in  the  mytho- 
logical legends,  which  form  so  curious  a  feature  in  the 
Babylonian  and  Assyrian  religion.  In  the  "  History  of 
Creation "  we  are  told  that  Bel  made  the  earth  and  the 
heaven  ;  that  he  formed  man  by  means  of  a  mixture  of  his 
own  blood  with  earth,  and  also  formed  beasts ;  and  that 
afterward  he  created  the  sun  and  the  moon,  the  stars,  and 
the  five  planets.§  In  the  "  War  of  the  Gods,"  we  find  him 
contending  with  the  great  dragon,  Tiamat,  and  after  a 
terrible  single  combat  destroying  her  by  flinging  a  thunder- 
bolt into  her  open  mouth. ||  He  also,  in  conjunction  with 
lloa,  plans  the  defence  when  the  seven  spirits  of  evil  rise 
in  rebellion,  and  the  dwelling-place  of  the  gods  is  assaulted 
by  them. If  The  titles  of  Bel  generally  express  dominion. 
He  is  "the  lord," par  excellence,  which  is  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  his  name  in  Assyrian  ;  he  is  "  the  king  of  all  the 
spirits,"  "  the  lord  of  the  world,"  and  again,  "  the  lord  of 
all  the  countries."  Babylon  and  Nineveh  are,  both  of 
them,  under  his  special  care;  Nineveh  having  the  title  of 
"the  city  of  Bel,"  in  some  passages  of  the  inscriptions. 

*  Tiglath  Pileser  r.     (See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  24.) 
Yet  even  lie  is  still  more  devoted  to  Asshur. 
t  Isaiah  xlvi.  1 ;  Jer.  1.  2;  li.  44. 
J  See  the  history  of  "  Bel  and  the  Dragon," 
§  Berosua  np.  Euseh.  "Ohron.  Can."  i.  3. 
II  "  Records  of  the  1'ast,"  vol.  ix.  pp.  137-139. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  104. 


'RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS.  41 

The  chief  seat  of  the  worship  of  Bel  in  Babylonia  wag 
Nipur,  now  Niffer,  and  in  Assyria,  Calah,  now  Nimrud. 
He  had  also  a  temple  at  Duraba  (Akkerkuf). 

Hea  or  Hoa,  the  third  god  of  the  first  triad,  ranks  im- 
mediately after  Bel  in  the  complete  lists  of  Assyrian  deities. 
He  is  emphatically  one  of  the  "  great  gods,"  and  is  called, 
"  the  king,"  "  the  great  inventor,"  and  "  the  determiner 
of  destinies."  We  have  already  remarked  that  he  was 
specially  connected  with  the  element  of  water ;  and  hence 
he  is  "the  king  of  the  deep,"  "the  king  of  rivers,"  "the 
lord  of  fountains,"  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  "the  lord  of 
the  harvest."  In  the  legend  of  creation  he  is  joined  with 
Bel,  in  the  office  of  guardian,  and  watches  over  the  regu- 
larity of  the  planetary  courses.*  In  the  "War  of  the 
Gods,"  he  and  Bel  plan  the  defence,  after  which  Hea 
commits  the  executions  of  the  plans  made  to  his  son, 
Marduk  or  Merodach.t  In  the  flood  legend,  Hea  naturally 
plays  an  important  part.  It  is  he  who  announces  to  Hasis- 
adra,  the  Babylonian  Noah,  that  a  deluge  is  about  to  destroy 
mankind,  and  commands  him  to  build  a  great  ship,  in  order 
that  he  may  escape  it-.J  It  is  he  again  who  opposes  the 
Avish  of  Bel  to  make  the  destruction  complete,  and  per- 
suades him  to  let  Hasis-adra  and  his  family  come  out  safe 
from  the  ark.§  In  the  tale  of  Ishtar's  descent  into  Hades, 
Hea's  counsel  is  sought  by  the  moon-god  ;  and  by  a  skilful 
device  he  obtains  the  restoration  of  the  Queen  of  Love  to 
the  upper  world. ||  Indeed,  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
mythology  we  find  all  clever  inventions  and  well-laid 
plans  ascribed  to  him,  so  that  his  history  quite  justifies  his 
title  of  "lord  of  deep  thoughts."  Hea  is  probably  intend- 
ed by  the  Oe  of  Helladius,1[  and  the  Cannes  of  Berosus,** 
who  came  up  out  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  instructed  the 
first  settlers  on  the  Lower  Tigris  and  Euphrates  in  letters, 
science,  religion,  law,  and  agriculture. 

In  direct  succession  to  the  three  gods  of  the  first 
triad,  Ann,  Bel,  and  Hea  or  Hoa,  we  find  a  second  still  more 
widely  recognized  triad,  comprising  the  moon-god,  the  sun- 
god,  and  the  god  of  the  atmosphere.  There  is  great  differ 

»  "  Records  ofthe  Past,"  vol.  ix.  p.  118. 

1  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  165.  $  Ibid.  vol.  vil.  pp.  1:35,  136. 

§  Ibid.  p.  14'2.  [I  Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  147-149. 

t  Ap.  Phot.  "  Bibliothec,"  cclxxxix.  p.  1594. 

**  Berosus  ap.  Euseb.  "  Chrou.  Can."  1.  a.  c. 


42          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

ence  of  opinion  with  respect  to  the  name  of  the  last  god  oi 
these  three,  which  is  never  spelt  phonetically  in  the  in. 
scriptions,  but  only  represented  by  a  monogram.  He  has 
been  called  Iva  (or  Yav),  Vul,  Bin,  Yem  (or  1m),,  and  re« 
cently  Rimmon.*  Without  presuming  to  decide  this  vexed 
question,  we  propose  to  adopt  provisionally  the  rendering 
"  Vul,"  as  the  one  likely  to  be  most  familiar  to  our  readers, 
from  its  employment  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  Mr.  George 
Smith,  and  Mr.  Fox  Talbot.  We  shall  speak  therefore  of 
the  second  triad  as  one  consisting  of  Sin,  Shamas,  and  Vul, 
the  gods  respectively  of  the  moon,  the  sun,  and  the  atmos- 
phere. 

It  is  very  noticeable  that  in  Assyria  and  Babylonia  the 
moon-god  took  precedence  of  the  sun-god.  Night  probably 
was  more  agreeable  to  the  inhabitants  of  those  hot  regions 
than  day ;  and  the  cool,  placid  time  when  they  could  freely 
contemplate  the  heavens,  and  make  their  stellar  and  other 
observations,  was  especially  grateful  to  the  priestly  astron- 
omers who  had  the  superintendence  and  arrangement  of 
the  religion.  Sin,  the  moon,  is. thus  one  of  the  leading 
deities.  He  is  called,  "  the  chief  of  the  gods  of  heaven  and 
earth,"  "  the  king  of  the  gods,"  and  even  "  the  god  of  the 
gods."  f  These  seem,  however,  to  be  hyperbolical  expres- 
sions, used  by  his  votaries  in  the  warmth  of  their  hearts, 
when  in  the  stage  of  religion  which  Professor  Max  Muller 
has  designated  "  Henotheism."  J  Sin  more  properly  was 
"  the  brilliant,"  "  the  illuminator,"  "  he  who  dwells  in  the 
sacred  heavens,"  "  he  who  circles  round  the  heavens,"  and 
"the  lord  of  the  month."  Again,  for  some  recondite  reason, 
which  is  not  explained,  he  was  selected  to  preside  over 
architecture,  and  in  this  connection  he  is  "  the  supporting 
architect,"  "  the  strengthener  of  fortifications,"  and,  more 
generally,  "the  lord  of  building." 

A  close  bond  of  sympathy  united  Sin  with  the  two  other 
members  of  the  second  triad.  When  the  seven  spirits  of 
evil  made  war  in  heaven,  and  directed  their  main  attack 
upon  Sin,  as  the  chief  leader  of  the  angelic  host,  Shamas 

*  "  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  vol.  v.  p. 
441;  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  29;  vol.  vii.  pp."l65,  170;  vol. 
ix.  pp.  23,  27,  etc. 

t  In  the  inscription  of  Nabonidus.  (See  "  Records  of  the  Past," 
vol.  v.  pp.  14(i,  147.) 

J  "Contemporary  Review,"  Nov.  1878,  pp.  722- 


THE  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        43 

and  Vul  instantly  came  to  his  aid,  withstood  the  spirits, 
and,  fighting  firmly  side  by  side  with  him,  succeeded  in  re- 
pulsing them.*  The  three  are  frequently  conjoined  in  in- 
vocations, execrations,  and  the  like.f  In  offerings  and  fes- 
tivals, however,  Sin  is  united  with  Shamas  only,  the  place 
of  Vul  being  taken  by  a  goddess  who  is  entitled  "  the 
divine  mistress  of  the  world."  $ 

Sin  was  among  the  gods  most  widely  and  devoutly  wor- 
shipped, both  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  He  had  temples 
at  Ur,  Babylon,  Borsippa,  Calah,  and  Dur- 
Sargina.  The  third  month  of  the  year,  called 
Sivan,  was  dedicated  to  him.  In  a  month  not  so 
dedicated  we  find  sacrifice  to  the  moon  prescribed 
on  nine  clays  out  of  the  thirty.§  His  name  was 
widely  used  as  an  element  in  royal  and  other  appel- 
lations, as,  for  instance,  in  the  well-known  name, 
Sennacherib,  which  in  the  original  is  Sin-akhi 
irib,  or,  "  Sin  has  multiplied  brothers." 

Shamas,  the  sun-god,  occupies  the  middle  posi- 
tion in  the  second  triad,  which  is  either  "  Sin, 
Shamas,  Vul,"  or  "  Vul,  Shamas,  Sin,"  though  more  com- 
monly the  former.  His  titles  are  either  general  or  special 
In  a  general  way  he  is  called,  "the  establisher  of  heaven 
and  earth,"  "  the  judge  of  heaven  and  earth,"  "the  warrior 
of  the  world,"  and  "  the  regent  of  all  things,"  while,  with 
direct  reference  to  his  physical  nature,  he  is  "  the  lord  of 
fire,"  "the  light  of  the  gods,"  "the  ruler  of  the  day,"  and 
he  who  illumines  the  expanse  of  heaven  and  earth."" 

The  kings  regard  him  as  affording  them  especial  help  in 
war.  He  is  "  the  supreme  ruler,  who  casts  a  favorable  eye 
on  expeditions,"  the  "  vanquisher  of  the  king's  enemies," 
"  the  breaker-up  of  opposition."  He  "  casts  his  motive  in- 
fluence "  over  the  monarchs,  and  causes  them  to  "  assemble 
their  chariots  and  their  warriors,"  he  "  goes  forth  with  their 
armies,"  and  enables  them  to  extend  their  dominions ;  he 
chases  their  enemies  before  them,  causes  opposition  to 

*  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  pp.  164-166. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  57,  93,  etc.;  vol.  v.  pp.  7,  122,  123;  vol.  ix.  pp. 
23,  100,  etc. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.  pp.  159,  162,  etc. 

§  See  the  calendar  referred  to  in  the  last  note,  where  sacrifices  to 
Sin  are  prescribed  for  the  1st,  2nd,  13th,  14th,  18th,  20th,  21st,  22nd, 
and  29th  days  of  the  month. 


44  RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

cease,  and  brings  them  back  with  victory  to  their  own  coun. 
try. 

Besides  this,  in  time  of  peace,  he  helps  them  to  sway  the 
sceptre  of  power,  and  to  rule  over  their  subjects  with 
authority.  It  seems  that,  from  observing  the  manifest  agency 
of  the  material  sun  in  stimulating  all  the  functions  of 
nature,  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  sun-god  exerted  a  similar  influence  over  the 
minds  of  men,  and  was  the  great  motive  agent  in  human 
history.* 

The  worship  of  Shamas  was  universal.  The  seventh 
month,  Tisri,  was  dedicated  to  him,  and  in  the  second  Elul, 
he  had,  like  the  moon-god,  nine  festivals.  His  emblem  ap- 
pears upon  almost  all  the  religious  cylinders,  and  in  almost 
all  lists  of  the  gods  his  name  holds  a  high  place.  Sometimes 
he  is  a  member  of  a  leading  triad,  composed  of  himself  to- 
gether with  Sin  and  Asshur.f  In  the  mythological  legends 
he  if  not  very  frequently  mentioned.  We  find  him,  how- 
ever, defending  the  moon-god,  in  conjunction  with  Vul, 
when  the  seven  spirits  make  their  assault  upon  heaven ;  $ 
and  in  the  deluge  tablets  we  are  told  that  it  was  he  who 
actually  made  the  Flood. §  But  otherwise  the  mythology 
is  silent  about  him,  offering  in  this  respect  a  remarkable  con- 
trast to  the  Egyptian,  where  the  sun  is  the  principal  figure. 

Vul,  the  god  of  the  atmosphere,  who  completes  the 
second  triad,  has,  on  the  whole,  a  position  quite  equal  to 
that  of  Sin  and  Shamas,  whom  he  occasionally  even  pre- 
cedes in  the  lists.  ||  Some  kings  seem  to  place  him  on  a 
par  with  Aim,  or  with  Asshur,  recognizing  Anu  and  Vul, 
or  Asshur  and  Vul,  as  especially  "  the  great  gods,"  and  as 
their  own  peculiar  guardians. If  In  a  general  way  he  cor- 
responds with  the  "  Jupiter  Tonans  "  of  the  Romans,  being 
the  "  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,"  the  lord  of  the  whirl- 
wind and  the  tempest,  and  the  wielder  of  the  thunderbolt. 
His  most  common  titles  are  "  the  minister  of  heaven  and 
earth,"  "  the  lord  of  the  air,"  and  "  he  who  makes  the 

"  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  I.  p.  105. 

t  This  is  the  position  which  he  holds  regularly  in  the  Inscriptions 
of  Asshurbanipal,  the  son  of  Esarhaddon.  (See  "Records  of  the 
Past,"  vol.  i.  pp.  58,  71,  77,  93-5,  99,  100,  103,  etc.). 

J  See  above,  p.  43. 


{"Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.  p.  138. 
Ibid.  vol.  ix.  p.  100. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  46;  vol.  v.  pp.  24-26. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        45 

tempest  to  rage."     lie  is  regarded  as  the  destroyer  of  crops, 
the  rooter-up  of  trees,  the  scatterer  of  the  harvest ;  famine, 
•scarcity,  and  even  their  consequence,  pestilence,  are  assigned 
to  him.     He  is  said  to  have  in  his  hand  a 
"  flaming     sword,"    with    which  he  effects 
his   ravages ;    and    this    "  flaming    sword," 
which    probably  represents  lightning,  seems 
to  form    his   emblem  on    the    tablets    and 
cylinders,  where  it  is  figured  as  a  double  or 
triple  bolt.     But  Vul  has  also  a  softer  char- 
acter ;    as   the   god   of   the   atmosphere   he 
gives  the  rain;  and  hence  he  is  "the  careful 
and  beneficent   chief,"  "the   giver  of  abun- 
dance," and    "the   lord   of   fecundity."     In 
this   capacity,  he   is  naturally  chosen  to  pre- 
side   over    canals,    the    great    fertilizers   in 
Mesopotamia ;  and  thus  we  find  among  his 
VUL-          titles,  "the   lord   of   canals,"   and  "the  es- 
tablisher  of  works  of  irrigation."  * 

To  the  eight  "great  gods,"  whose  functions  have 
been  here  described,  may  be  added  most  conveniently  in 
this  place,  six  goddesses.  It  was  a  genei'al,  though  not  a 
universal  rule,  in  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  mythology, 
that  each  god  should  have  a  wife.  From  this  law  the 
heads  of  the  respective  pantheons,  II  Asshur,  were  exempt ;  t 
but  otherwise  almost  all  the  principal  deities  are  united  in 
pairs,  one  of  whom  is  male  and  the  other  female.  Anu  has 
a  wife  called  Anata  or  Anat,  who  is  a  pale  and  shadowy 
personage,  the  mere  faint  reflex  of  her  husband  whose  name 
she  receives,  merely  modified  by  a  feminine  inflection.  Bil 
or  Bel  has  a  wife,  Bilat,  known  to  the  classical  writers  as 
Beltis  or  Mylitta,t  a  term  standing  to  Bil  as  Anat  to  Anu, 
but  designating  a  far  more  substantial  being.  Beltis  is 
"  the  mother  of  the  gods,"  "  the  great  goddess,"  "  the  great 
lady,"  "  the  queen  of  the  lands,"  and  "  the  queen  of  fecund- 
ity." She  corresponds  to  the  Cybele  of  the  Phrygians, 
the  Rhea  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  "  Magna  Mater "  or 

*  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  pp.  107, 108. 

t  In  one  place  I  observe  a  mention  of  a  "  goddess  Assnritn " 
("Records."  vol.  i.  p.  60),  who  might  seem  to  be  a  feminine  form  of 
Asshur.  But  the  original  reads,  "  Asshur  va  Ishtar  Assuritu,"  which 
shows  Assuritu  to  be  a  mere  title  of  Ishtar.  (See  G.  Smith's  "  An- 
nals of  Asshurbanipal,"  p,  17.) 

J  Herod,  i.  131,  199;  Hesychius  ad.  voc. 


46  RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

"  Bona  Dea  "  of  the  Romans.  Occasionally,  she  adds  to 
this  character  the  attributes  of  Bellona  and  Diana,  being 
spoken  of  as  presiding  over  war  and  hunting.  The  wife 
of  Hoa  has  been  called  Dav-kina;  but  the  first  element  of 
the  name  seems  now  to  be  read  more  generally  as^Nin, 
while  the  second  is  rendered  by  azu.*  Ninazu  is  said  to 
have  been  "queen  of  Hades"  and  "the  lady  of  the  house 
of  Death."  t  'Her  special  office  was  to  watch  and  soothe 
the  last  hours  of  the  dying. |  To  the  wife  of  Sin  no  proper 
name  is  given ;  but  she  is  frequently  associated  with  her 
husband  under  the  appellation  of  "  the  great  lady."  The 
•wife  of  Shamas  in  Gula  or  Antinit,  who  was,  like  Beltis,  a 


'*  great  goddess,"  but  had  a  less  distinctive  character,  being 
little  more  than  a  female  Sun.  Finally,  Vul  had  a  wife 
called  Shala  or  Tala,  whose  common  title  is  sarrat, 

*"  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.  pp.  131,1.32.     Professor  Sayco 
'In-  ii.-un.'  as  Ninkical  (Ibid.  p.  146). 

I  'rofossor  Sayce^s  note  on  thft  passage  last  quoted. 
J  "  Records,"  vol.  v.  p.  140.     Compare  vof.  iii.  p.  141. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       47 

"Queen,"  but  who  is  a  colorless  and  insignificant  per- 
sonage. 

On  the  second  of  the  two  great  triads  which  holds  so 
high  a  place  in  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  pantheons, 
there  follows  a  group  of  five  gods,  with  an  unmistakably 
istr:il  character.  These  are  Nin  or  Bar,  Merodach  or 
iManluk,  Nergal,  Ishtar,  and  Nebo,  who  correspond  re- 
spectively to  the  planets,  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Mars,  and  Mer- 
cury. 

Xin,  or  Bar,  who  presided  over  the  most  distant  of  the 
visible  planets,  Saturn,  was  more  an  object  of  worship  in 
Assyria  than  in  Babylonia.  He  has  been  called  "  the  As- 
syrian Hercules,"*  and  in  many  respects  resembles  that 
hero  of  the  classical  nations.  Among  his  titles  are  found, 
"  the  lord  of  the  brave,"  "the  warlike,"  "the  champion," 
"the  warrior  who  subdues  foes,"  "the  reducer  of  the  dis- 
obedient," "the  exterminator  of  rebels,"  "the  powerful 
lord,"  "  the  exceeding  strong  god,"  and  "  he  whose  sword 
is  good."  He  presides  in  a  great  measure  both  over  war 
and  hunting.  Most  of  the  Assyrian  monarchs  represent 
themselves  as  going  out  to  war  under  his  auspices,  and 
ascribe  their  successes  mainly  to  his  interposition.  He  is 
especially  useful  to  them  in  the  subjection  of  rebels.  He 
also  on  some  occasions  incites  them  to  engage  in  the  chase, 
and  aids  them  strenuously  in  their  encounters  with  wild 
bulls  and  lions.f  It  is  thought  that  he  was  emblematically 
portrayed  in  the  winged  and  human-headed  bull,  which 
forms  so  striking  a  feature  in  the  architectural  erections  of 
the  Assyrians. 

As  Nin  was  a  favorite  Assyrian,  so,  Merodach  was  a 
favorite  Babylonian  god.  From  the  earliest  times  the  Baby- 
lonian monarchs  placed  him  in  the  highest  rank  of  deities, 
worshipping  him  in  conjunction  with  Anu,  Bel,  and  Hea, 
the  three  gods  of  the  first  triad. J  The  great  temple  of 
Babylon,  known  to  the  Greeks  as  the  Temple  of  Bel,  §  was 
certainly  dedicated  to  him ;  and  it  would  therefore  seem 

*  Layard,  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  214;  "  Records  of  the  Past," 
vol.  v.  pp.  7,  21,  23,  etc. 

*  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  21. 

J  See  the  Inscription  of  Agu-kak-rimi,  published  in  the  "  Records 
of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.  p.  3,  lines  5  and  6. 
_  §  Herod,  i.  181-183;  Strab.  xvi.  p.  1049;  Arrian,  "  Exp.  Alex."  vii 


48   RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

that  the  later  Babylonians,  at  any  rate,  must  have  habitually 
applied  to  him  the  name  of  Bel,  or  "lord,"  which  in  earlier 
times  had  designated  a  different  member  of  their  pantheon. 
Merodach's  ordinary  titles  are,  "  the  great,"  "  the  great  lord," 
"  the  prince,"  "  the  prince  of  the  gods,"  and  "  the  august  god." 
He  is  also  called,  "the  judge,"  "  the  most  ancient,"  "he  who 
judges  the  gods,"  "  the  eldest  son  of  heaven,"  and  in  one 
place,  "  the  lord  of  battles."  *  Occasionally,  he  has  still 
higher  and  seemingly  exclusive  designations,  such  as, 
"  the  great  lord  of  eternity,"  "  the  king  of  heaven  and  earth," 
"  the  lord  of  all  beings,"  "  the  chief  of  the  gods,"  and  "  the 
god  of  gods."  t  But  these  titles  seem  not  to  be  meant  ex- 
clusively. He  is  held  in  considerable  honor  among  the 
Assyrians,  being  often  coupled  with  Asshur,J  or  with  Asshur 
and  Nebo,§  as  a  war-god,  one  by  whom  the  kings  gain  vic- 
tories, and  obtain  the  destruction  of  their  enemies.  But  it 
is  in  Babylonia,  and  especially  in  the  latter  Babylonian  Em- 
pire under  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Neriglissar,  that  his  wor- 
ship culminates.  It  is  then  that'all  the  epithets  of  highest 
honor  are  accumulated  upon  him,  and  that  he  becomes  an 
almost  exclusive  object  of  worship ;  it  is  then  that  we  find 
such  expressions  as :  "I  supplicated  the  king  of  gods,  the 
lord  of  lords,  in  Borsippa,  the  city  of  his  loftiness,"  ||  and 
"  O  god  Merodach,  great  lord,  lord  of  the  house  of  the  gods, 
light  of  the  gods,  father,  even  for  thy  high  honor,  which 
changeth  not,  a  temple  have  I  built."  If 

In  Ijis  stellar  character,  Merodach  represented  the  planet 
Jupiter,  with  which  he  was  supposed  to  have  a  very  intimate 
connection.  The  eighth  month  (Marchesvan)  was  dedicated 
to  him.**  In  the  second  Elul  he  had  three  festivals — on  the 
third,  on  the  seventh,  and  on  the  sixteenth  day. ft 

Nergal,  who  presided  over  the  planet  Mars,  was  essentially 
a  war-god.  His  name  signifies  "  the  great  man,"  or  the  "  great 
hero  ;"  Jt  and  his  commonest  titles  are  '.'the  mighty  hero," 
"  the  king  of  battle,"  "  the  destroyer"  "  the  champion  of  the 
gods,"  and  "  the  great  brother."  He  "  goes  before"  the  kings 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  29. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  v.  pp.  112,  110,  122;  vol.  ix.  pp.  06,  100. 
}  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.  p.  20;  vol.  iii.  pp.  53,55;  vol.  v.  p, 
41 ;  vol.  x.  p.  53,  etc. 

§  Ibid.  vol.  vil.  pp.  25,  27,  45,  etc. 

II  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  120.  IT  Ibid.  p.  142. 

••  Pnd.  vol.  vii.  p.  1(19.  ft  H>id.  pp.  150,  100  and  163. 

|J  Sir  Rawlinson  in  the  Author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  L  p.  055. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       49 

in  their  warlike  expeditions,  and  helps  them  to  confound  and 
destroy  their  enemies.  Nor  is  he  above  lending  them  his 
assistance  when  they  indulge  in  the  pleasures  of  the  chase. 
One  of  his  titles  is  "  the  god  of  hunting,"  *  and  while 
originally  subordinated  to  Kin  in  this  relation,  ultimately 
he  outstrips  his  rival,  and  becomes  the  especial  patron  of 
hunters  and  sportsmen.  Asshur-bani-pal,  who  is  conspicuous 
among  the  Assyrian  kings  for  his  intense  love  of  field  sports, 
uniformly  ascribes  his  successes  to  Nergal,  and  does  not 
even  join  with  him  any  other  deity.  Nergal's  emblem  was 
the  human-headed  and  winged  lion,  which  is  usually  seen,  as 
it  were  on  guard,  at  the  entrance  of  the  royal  palaces. 


NERGAL. 

Ishtar,  who  was  called  Nana  by  the  Babylonians,!  cor- 
responded both  in  name  and  attributes  with  the  Astart6  of  the 
Phoenicians  and  Syrians.  Like  the  Greek  Aphrodit6  and  the 
Latin  Venus,  she  was  the  Queen  of  Love  and  Beauty !  the 
goddess  who  presided  over  the  loves  both  of  men  and 

*  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  in  the  Author's  "  ITerodotus,"  1.  s.  c. 
t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  7,  10, 11.  18,  14,  etc.;  vol.  v. 
pp.  1'2,  S3,  102,  etc. 


50  RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLOYIANS. 

animals,  and  whose  own  amours  were  notorious.  In  one  of 
the  Izdubar  legends,  she  courts  that  romantic  individual, 
who,  however,  declines  her  advances,  reminding  her  that 
her  favor  had  always  proved  fatal  to  those  persons  on  whom 
she  had  previously  bestowed  her  affections.*  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  in  Babylon,  at  any  rate,  she  was  worshipped 
with  unchaste  rites,t  and  that  her  cult  was  thus  of  a  corrupt- 
ing and  debasing  character.  But  besides  and  beyond  this 
soft  and  sensual  aspect,  Ishtarhad  a  further  and  nobler  one. 
She  corresponded,  not  to  Venus  only,  but  also  to  Bellona ; 
being  called  "  the  goddess  of  war  and  battle,"  "  the  queen  of 
victory,"  "  she  who  arranges  battles,"  and  "  she  who  defends 
from  attack."  The  Assyrian  kings  very  generally  unite  her 
with  Asshur,  in  the  accounts  which  they  give  of  their  ex- 
peditions ;  t  speaking  of  their  forces  as  those  which  Asshur 
and  Ishtar  had  committed  to  their  charge  ;  of  their  battles 
as  fought  in  the  services  of  Asshur  and  Ishtar  and  of  their 
triumphs  as  the  result  of  Asshur  and  Ishtar  exalting  them 
above  their  enemies.  Ishtar  had  also  some  general  titles 
of  a  lofty  but  vague  character ;  she  was  called,  "  the  for- 
tunate," "  the  happy,"  "  the  great  goddess,"  "the  mistress 
of  heaven  and  earth,"  and  "  the  queen  of  all  the  gods  and 
goddesses."  In  her  stellar  aspect,  she  presided  over  the 
planet  Venus ;  and  the  sixth  month,  Elul,  was  dedicated  to 
ner.§ 

Nebo,  the  last  of  the  five  planetary  deities,  presided 
over  Mercury.  It  was  his  special  function  to  have  under 
his  charge  learning  and  knowledge.  He  is  called  "the  god 
who  possesses  intelligence,"  ||  "  he  who  hears  from  afar," 
"he  who  teaches,"  and  "he  who  teaches  and  instructs."  IT 
The  tablets  of  the  royal  library  at  Nineveh  are  said  to  con- 
tain "  the  wisdom  of  Nebo."  **  He  is  also,  like  Mercury, 
"  the  minister  of  the  gods,"  though  scarcely  their  messenger, 
an  office  which  belongs  to  Paku.  At  the  same  time,  as  has 
often  been  remarkcd,ft  Nebo  has,  like  many  other  of  the 

•  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.  pp.  125-128. 

t  See  Herod,  i.  li)U;  of  Barucli,  vi.  4J-5,  and  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  1058. 

}  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i,  pp.  Gy-8G;  vol.  iii.  p.  45,  etc. 

§  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  109. 

|j  "Records of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  pp.  113,  122, etc. 

I  "  Anciant  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  p.  91. 
••  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.  p.  58. 

tt  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  in  the  Author's  "Herodotus,"    vol.  i.  p. 661; 
"  Ancient  Monarchies,"  1.  s.  c. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       51 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian  gods,  a  number  of  general  titles, 
implying  divine  power,  which,  if  they  had  belonged  to  him 
alone,  would  have  seemed  to  prove  him  the  supreme  deity. 
He  is  "  the  lord  of  lords,  who  has  no  equal  in  power,"  "  the 
supreme  chief,"  "the  sustainer,"  "the  supporter,"  "the 
ever  ready,"  "  the  guardian  of  heaven  and  earth,"  "  the 
lord  of  the  constellations,"  "the  holder  of  the  sceptre  of 
power,"  "  he  who  grants  to  kings  the  sceptre  of  royalty  for 
the  governance  of  their  people."  It  is  chiefly  by  his  omission 
from  many  lists,  and  by  his  humble  place,  *  when  he  is 
mentioned  together  with  the  really  "  great  gods,"  that  we 
are  assured  of  his  occupying  a  (comparatively  speaking)  low 
position  in  the  general  pantheon. 

The  planetary  gods  had  in  most  instances  a  female  com- 
plement. Nebo  was  closely  associated  with  a  goddess  called 
Urmitor  Tasmit,  Nergal  with  one  called  Laz,  and  Merodach 
with  Zirpanit  or  Zirbanit.  Nin,  the  son  of  Bel  and  Beltis, 
is  sometimes  made  the  husband  of  his  mother,  t  but  other- 
wise has  no  female  counterpart.  Ishtar  is  sometimes 
coupled  with  Nebo  in  a  way  that  might  suggest  her  being 
his  wife,  J  if  it  were  not  that  that  position  is  certainly  oc- 
cupied by  Urmit. 

Among  other  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  deities  may  be 
mentioned  Xusku,  a  god  assigned  a  high  rank  by  Asshur- 
bani-pal ;  §  Makhir,  the  goddess  of  dreams,  ||  Paku,  the 
divine  messenger, IF  Laguda,  the  god  of  a  town  call  Kisik;** 
Zamal,  Turda,  Ishkara,  Malik,  deities  invoked  in  curses ;  ft 
Zicmn,  a  primeval  goddess,  said  to  be  "the  mother  of 
Ann;  and  the  gods,"  $$  Dakan,  §§  perhaps  Dagon,  Martu, 
Zira,  Idak,  Kurrikh,  etc.  Many  other  strange  names  also 
occur,  but  either  rarely,  or  in  a  connection  which  is  thought 
to  indicate  that  they  are  local  appellations  of  some  of  the 

Nebo's  place  varies  commonly  from  the  fifth  to  the  thirteenth, 
and  is  generally  about  the  seventh.  Nebuchadnezzar,  however,  puts 
him  third.  ("  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  122.) 

t  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  p.  87. 

J  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  1.  p.  91. 

§  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.  pp.  57,  58,  71,  77,  94,  93,  etc.;  vol. 
ix.  pp.  45,  61,  etc. 

II  Ibid.  vol.  ix.  p.  152. 

1  Ibid.  vol.  v.  p.  165. 

•*  Ibid.  vol.  ix.  pp.  3  and  15. 

It  Ibid.  p.  101. 

Jt  Ibid.  p.  14(5,  and  note. 

§§  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  40;  vol.  v.  p.  117  ;  voL  vii.  pp.  11,  27,  etc. 


52   RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

well-known  deities.  No  more  need  be  said  of  these  per- 
sonages,  since  the  general  character  of  the  religion  is  but 
little  affected  by  the  belief  in  gods  who  played  so  very  in- 
significant a  part  in  the  system. 

The  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  worshipped  their  gods 
in  shrines  or  chapels  of  no  very  great  size,  to  which,  how- 
ever, was  frequently  attached  a  lofty  tower,  built  in 
stages,  which  were  sometimes  as  many  as  seven.*  The 
tower  could  be  ascended  by  steps  on  the  outside,  and  was 
usually  crowned  by  a  small  chapel.  The  gods  were  rep- 
resented by  images,  which  were  either  of  stone  or  metal, 
and  which  bore  the  human  form,  excepting  in  two  instances, 
Nin  and  Nergal  were  portrayed,  as  the  Jews,  perhaps, 
portrayed  their  cherubim,  by  animal  forms  of  great  size 
and  grandeur,  having  human  heads  and  huge  outstretched 
wings.f  There  was  nothing  hideous  or  even  grotesque 
about  the  representations  of  the  Assyrian  gods.  The  object 
aimed  at  was  to  fill  the  spectator  with  feelings  of  awe  and 
reverence ;  and  the  figures  have,  in  fact,  universally,  an  ap- 
pearance of  calm  and  placid  strength  and  majesty,  which  is 
most  solemn  and  impressive. 

The  gods  were  worshipped,  as  generally  in  the  ancient 
world,  by  prayer,  praise,  and  sacrifice.  Prayer  was  offered 
both  for  oneself  and  for  others.  The  "  sinfulness  of  sin  " 
was  deeply  felt,  and  the  Divine  anger  deprecated  with 
much  earnestness.  "  O !  my  Lord,"  says  one  suppliant, 
"rny  sins  are  many,  my  trespasses  are  great;  and  the  wrath 
of  the  gods  has  plagued  me  with  disease,  and  sickness,  and 
sorrow.  I  fainted,  but  no  one  stretched  forth  his  hand ;  I 
groaned,  but  no  one  drew  nigh.  I  cried  aloud,  but  no  one 
heard.  O  Lord,  do  not  Thou  abandon  thy  servant.  In  the 
waters  of  the  great  storm,  do  Thou  lay  hold  of  his  hand. 
The  sins  which  he  has  committed,  do  Thou  turn  to  right- 
eousness." t  Special  intercession  was  made  for  the  As- 
syrian kings.  The  gods  were  besought  to  grant  them 
"  length  of  days,  a  strong  sword,  extended  years  of  glory, 
pre-eminence  among  monarehs,  and  an  enlargement  of  the 
bounds  of  their  empire."  §  It  is  thought  that  their  happi. 

•  As  at  Borsippa  (Birs-i-Nimrod),  where  a  portion  of  each  itage 
remains. 

t  Ezek.  x.  H-22. 

§  "  Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  iii.  p.  136. 

II  Ibid.  p.  1:58. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       53 

ness  in  a  future  state  was  also  prayed  for.*  Praise  was 
even  more  frequent  than  prayer.  The  gods  were  addressed 
under  their  various  titles,  and  their  benefits  to  mankind 
commemorated.  "  O  Fire !  "  we  read  on  one  tablet,4} 
"  Great  Lord,  who  art  exalted  above  all  the  earth !  O  ! 
noble  son  of  heaven,  exalted  above  all  the  earth.  O  Fire, 
with  thy  bright  flame,  thou  dost  produce  light  in  the  dark 
house  !  Of  all  things  that  can  be  named,  thou  dost  create 
the  fabric  ;  of  bronze  and  of  lead,  thou  art  the  melter ;  of 
silver  and  of  gold,  thou  art  the  refiner ;  of  ...  thou  art 
the  purifier.  Of  the  wicked  man,  in  the  night-time,  thou 
dost  repel  the  assault;  but  the  man  who  serves  his  God, 
thou  wilt  give  him  light  for  his  actions."  Sacrifice  almost 
always  accompanied  prayer  and  praise.  Every  day  in  the 
year  seems  to  have  been  sacred  to  some  deity  or  deities, 
and  some  sacrifice  or  other  was  offered  every  day  by  the 
monarch,'}:  who  thus  set  an  example  to  his  subjects,  which 
we  may  be  sure  they  were  not  slow  to  follow.  The 
principal  sacrificial  animals  were  bulls,  oxen,  sheep,  and 
gazelles.§  Libations  of  wine  were  also  a  part  of  the 
recognized  worship,  ||  and  offerings  might  be  made  of  any- 
thing valuable. 

It  is  an  interesting  question  how  far  the  Assyrians  and 
Babylonians  entertained  any  confident  expectation  of  a 
future  life,  and,  if  so,  what  view  they  took  of  it.  That  the 
idea  did  not  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  their  minds  ;  that 
there  was  a  contrast  in  this  respect  between  them  and  the 
people  of  Egypt,  is  palpable  from  the  very  small  number  of 
passages  in  which  anything  like  an  allusion  to  a  future  state 
of  existence  has  been  detected.  Still,  there  certainly  seem 
to  be  places  in  which  the  continued  existence  of  the  dead  is 
spoken  of,  and  where  the  happiness  of  the  good  and  the 
wretchedness  of  the  wicked  in  the  future  state  are  indicat- 
ed. It  has  been  already  noticed,  that  in  one  passage  the 
happiness  of  the  king  in  another  world  seems  to  be  prayed 
for.  In  two  or  three  others,  prayer  is  offered  for  a  depart- 

*FoxTa11)ot  in  the  "Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archaeology."  vol.  i.  p.  107. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  137,  138. 

t  See  the  fragment  of  a  Calendar  published  in  the  "Records  of  the 
Past."  vol.  vii.  pp.  159-168. 

§  Pnd.  pp.  137,  159,  and  101;  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  il 
p.  56. 

0  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.  p.  124;  vol.  vii.  p.  140. 


54   RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

ing  soul  in  terms  like  the  following  :  "  May  the  sun  give 
him  life,  and  Merodach  grant  him  an  abode  of  happiness,"  * 
or,  "  To  the  sun,  the  greatest  of  the  gods,  may  he  ascend  ; 
and  may  the  sun,  the  greatest  of  the  gods,  receive  his  soul 
into  his  holy  hands."  t  The  nature  of  the  happiness  en- 
joyed may  be  gathered  from  occasional  notices,  where  the 
soul  is  represented  as  clad  in  a  white  radiant  garment^  as 
dwelling  in  the  presence  of  the  gods,  and  as  partaking  of 
celestial  food  in  the  abode  of  blessedness.  On  the  other 
hand,  Hades,  the  receptacle  of  the  wicked  after  death,  is 
spoken  of  as  "the  abode  of  darkness  and  famine,"  the  place 
"where  earth  is  men's  food,  and  their  nourishment  clay; 
where  light  is  not  seen,  but  in  darkness  they  dwell ;  where 
ghosts,  like  birds,  flutter  their  wings,  and  on  the  door  and 
the  doorposts  the  dust  lies  undisturbed."  §  Different  de- 
grees of  sinfulness  seem  to  meet  with  different  and  appro- 
priate punishments.  There  is  one  place — apparently,  a 
penal  fire — reserved  for  unfaithful  wives  and  husbands,  and 
for  youths  who  have  dishonored  their  bodies.  Thus  it 
would  appear  that  M.  Lenormant  was  mistaken  when  he 
said,  that,  though  the  Assyrians  recognized  a  place  of  de- 
parted spirits,  yet  it  was  one  "  in  which  there  was  no  trace 
of  a  distinction  of  rewards  and  punishments."  || 

The  superstitions  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians 
were  numerous  and  strange.  They  believed  in  charms  of 
various  kinds  ;  IT  i»  omens,**  in  astrology,  in  spells,  and  in  a 
miraculous  power  inherent  in  an  object  which  they  called 
"theMamit."  What  the  Mamit  was  is  quite  uncertain.tt 
According  to  the  native  belief,  it  had  descended  from  heaven, 
and  was  a  "  treasure,"  a  "  priceless  jewel,"  infinitely  more 
valuable  than  anything,  else  upon  the  earth.  It  was  or- 

*  "  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  vol.  II 
p.  32. 

t  Ibid,  p,  81. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.  p.  135. 
§  "Transactions,"  etc..  vol.  i.  p.  113. 
It  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.  p.  143. 
T  Ihlfl.  vol.  ill.  p.  142. 

••  Among  the  remains  of  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  literature  are 
tables  of  omens  derived  from, dreams,  from  births,  from  an  inspection 
of  the  hand,  or  of  the  entrails  of  animals,  and  from  the  objects  a 
traveler  meets  with  on  his  journey.  Dogs  alone  furnish  eighteen  omens 
(JhM.  vol.  v.  pp.  lflH-170). 

tt  See  a  paper  by  Mr.  Fox  Talbot  In  the  "  Transactions  of  th« 
Society  of  Biblkal  Archeology,"  vql.  ji.  pp.  35-42. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       55 

dinarily  kept  in  a  temple,  but  was  sometimes  brought  to  the 
bedside  of  a  sick  person,  with  the  object  of  driving  out  the 
evil  spirits  to  whom  his  disease  was  owing,  and  of  so  re- 
covering him. 

Among  the  sacred  legends  of  the  Babylonians  and  As- 
syrians the  following  were  the  most  remarkable.  They  be- 
lieved that  at  a  remote  date,  before  the  creation  of  the 
world,  there  had  been  war  in  heaven.  Seven  spirits,  created 
by  Ami  to  be  his  messengers,  took  counsel  together  and 
resolved  to  revolt.  "Against  high  heaven,  the  dwelling- 
place  of  Ann  the  king,  they  plotted  evil,"  and  unexpectedly 
made  a  fierce  attack.  The  moon,  the  sun,  and  Vul,  the  god 
of  the  atmosphere,  withstood  them,  and  after  a  fearful 
struggle  bent  them  off.*  There  was  then  peace  for  a  vihile. 
But  once  more,  at  a  later  date,  a  fresh  revolt  broke  out. 
The  hosts  of  heaven  were  assembled  together,  in  number 
five  thousand,  and  were  engaged  in  singing  a  psalm  of  praise 
to  Aim  when  suddenly  discord  arose.  "  With  a  loud  cry  of 
contempt "  a  portion  of  the  angelic  choir  "  broke  up  the 
holy  song,"  uttering,  wicked  blasphemies,  and  so  "  spoiling, 
confusing,  confounding  the  hymn  of  praise."  Asshur  was 
asked  to  put  himself  at  their  heivl,  but  "  refused  to  go  forth 
with  them."  f  Their  leader,  who  is  unnamed,  took  the 
form  of  a  dragon,  and  in  that  shape  contended  Avith  the 
god  Bel,  who  proved  victorious  in  the  combat,  and  slew  his 
adversary  by  means  of  a  thunderbolt,  which  he  flung  into 
the  creature's  open  mouth. J  Upon  this,  the  entire  host  of 
the  wicked  angels  took  to  flight,  and  was  driven  to  the 
abode  of  the  seven  spirits  of  evil,  where  they  were  forced 
to  remain,  their  return  to  heaven  being  prohibited.  In  their 
room  man  was  created. § 

The  Chaldasan  legend  of  creation,  according  to  Berosus, 
was  as  follows  : — 

"  In  the  beginning  all  was  darkness  and  water,  and 
therein  were  generated  monstrous  animals  of  strange  and 
peculiar  forms.  There  were  men  with  two  wings,  and  some 
even  with  four,  and  with  two  faces ;  and  others  with  two 
heads,  a  man's  and  a  woman's,  on  one  body ;  and  there 
were  men  with  the  heads  and  horns  of  goats,  and  men  with 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.  pp.  103-160. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  pp.  127,  128. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ix.  pp.  137-139. 
§  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  127. 


56   RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

hoofs  like  horses  ;  and  some  with  the  upper  parts  of  a  man 
joined  to  the  lower  parts  of  a  horse,  like  centaurs;  and' 
there  were  bulls  with  human  heads,  dogs  with  four  bodies 
and  with  fishes'  tails ;  men  and  horses  with  dogs'  heads ; 
creatures  with  the  heads  and  bodies  of  horses,  but  with  the 
tails  of  fish ;  and  other  animals  mixing  the  forms  of  various 
beasts.  Moreover,  there  were  monstrous  fishes  and  reptiles 
and  serpents,  and  divers  other  creatures,  which  had  bor- 
rowed something  from  each  other's  shapes,  of  ail  which  the 
likenesses  are  still  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Belus.  A 
woman  ruled  them  all,  by  name  Omorka,  which  is  in 
Chaldee  Thalath,  and  in*  Greek  Thalassa  (or  '  the  sea7). 
Then  Belus  appeared,  and  split  the  woman  in  twain ;  and 
of  the  one  half  of  her  he  made  the  heaven,  and  of  the  other 
half  the  earth  ;  and  the  beasts  that  were  in  her  he  caused 
to  perish.  And  he  split  the  darkness,  and  divided  the 
heaven  and  the  earth  asunder,  and  put  the  world  in  order, 
and  the  animals  that  could  not  bear  the  light  perished. 
Belus,  upon  this,  seeing  that  the  earth  was  desolate,  yet 
teeming  with  productive  powers,  commanded  one  of  the 
gods  to  cut  off  his  head,  and  to  mix  the  blood  which  flowed 
forth  with  earth,  and  form  men  therewith,  and  beasts  that 
could  bear  the  light.  So  man  was  made,  and  was  intelli- 
gent, being  a  partaker  of  the  Divine  wisdom.  Likewise 
Belus  made  the  stars,  and  the  sun  and  the  moon,  and  the 
five  planets."  * 

The  only  native  account  which  has  been  discovered  in 
part  resembles  this,  but  in  many  respects  is  different.  So 
far  as  at  present  deciphered,  it  runs  thus : — 

"  When  the  upper  region  was  not  yet  called  heaven,  and 
the  lower  region  was  not  yet  called  earth,  and  the  abyss  of 
Hades  had  not  yet  opened  its  arms,  then  the  chaos  of  waters 
gave  birth  to  all ;  and  the  waters  were  gathered  into  one 
place.  Men  dwelt  not  as  yet  together;  no  animals  as  yet 
wandered  about ;  nor  as  yet  had  the  gods  been  born  ;  not 
as  yet  had  their  names  been  uttered,  or  their  attributes 
[fixed]  Then  were  born  the  gods  Lnkhmu  and  Lakhamu  ; 
they  were  born  and  grew  up  ....  Asshur  and  Kissluu 

were  born  and  lived  through  many  days Ann  (was 

born  next). 

***** 

•  Borosus  ap.  Euseb.  "Chron.  Can."  i.  2;  Syncell  "Chrono- 
graphia,"  vol.  i.  p.  5:J. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       57 

"  He,  (Anu  ?)  constructed  dwellings  for  the  great  gods ; 
he  fixed  the  constellations,  whose  figures  were  like  animals. 
He  made  the  year  into  portions ;  he  divided  it ;  twelve 
months  he  established,  with  their  constellations,  three  by 
three.  And  from  among  the  days  of  the  year  he  appointed 
festivals ;  he  made  dwellings  for  the  planets,  for  their  ris- 
ing and  for  their  setting.  And,  that  nothing  should  go 
wrong,  nor  come  to  a  stand,  he  placed  along  with  them  the 
dwellings  of  Bel  and  Hea ;  and  he  opened  great  gates  on 
all  sides,  making  strong  the  portals  on  the  left  and  on  the 
right.  Moreover,  in  the  centre  he  placed  luminaries.  The 
moon  he  set  on  high  to  circle  through  the  night,  and  made 
it  wander  all  the  night  until  the  dawning  of  the  day.  Each 
month  without  fail  it  brought  together  festal  assemblies ; 
in  the  beginning  of  the  month,  at  the  rising  of  the  night, 
shooting  forth  its  horns  to  illuminate  the  heavens,  and  on 
the  seventh  day  a  holy  day  appointing,  and  commanding  on 
that  day  a  cessation  from  all  business.  And  he  (Anu)  set 
the  sun  in  his  place  in  the  horizon  of  heaven."* 

The  following  is  the  Chaldsean  account  of  the  Deluge, 
as  rendered  from  the  original  by  the  late  Mr.  George 
Smith :  f — 

"  Hea  spake  to  me  and  said  : — '  Son  of  Ubaratutu,  make 
a  ship  after  this  fashion  ....  for  I  destroy  the  sinners  and 
life  ....  and  cause  to  enter  in  all  the  seed  of  life,  that 
thou  mayst  preserve  them.  The  ship  which  thou  shalt 
make,  ....  cubits  shall  be  the  measure  of  the  length 
thereof,  and  ....  cubits  the  measure  of  the  breadth 
and  height  thereof ;  and  into  the  deep  thou  shalt  launch  it.' 
I  understood,  and  said  to  Hea,  my  Lord — '  Hea,  my  Lord, 
this  which  Thou  commandest  me,  I  will  perform  :  [though 
I  be  derided]  both  by  young  and  old,  it  shall  be  done.' 
Hea  opened  his  mouth,  and  spake — '  This  shalt  thou  say  to 
them  ....  (hiatus  of  six  lines)  ....  and  enter  thou  into 
the  ship,  and  shut  to  the  door  ;  and  bring  into  the  midst  of 
it  thy  grain,  and  thy  furniture,  and  thy  goods,  thy  wealth, 
thy  servants,  thy  female  slaves  and  thy  young  Mien.  And 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.  pp.  117-11& 

t  Mr.  Smith's  paper,  read  on  Dec.  3.  1872,  was  first  published  in 
the  "  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  in  1874. 
It  was  afterward  revised,  and  republished  in  the  "  Records  of  the 
Past,"  vol.  xii.  pp.  135-141.  The  translation  is  taken  mainly  from 
this  second  version. 


f>8  RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

I  will  gather  to  thee  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  tha 
animals,  and  I  will  bring  them  to  thee;  and  they  shall  be  en- 
closed within  thy  door.'  Hasisadra  his  mouth  opened  and 
spake,  and  said  to  Hea,  his  Lord — '  There  was  not  upon 
the  earth  a  man  who  could  make  the  ship  ....  strong 
[planks]  I  brought  ....  on  the  fifth  day  ....  in  its 
circuit  fourteen  measures  [it  measured] ;  in  its  sides  four- 
teen measures  it  measured  ....  and  upon  it  I  placed  its 
roof  and  closed  [the  door].  On  the  sixth  day  I  embarked 
in  it :  on  the  seventh  I  examined  it  without :  on  the  eighth 
I  examined  it  within ;  plants  against  the  influx  of  the 
waters  I  placed  :  where  I  saw  rents  and  holes,  I  added 
what  was  required.  Three  measures  of  bitumen  I  poured 
over  the  outside  :  three  measures  of  bitumen  I  poured  over 

the  inside  ....  (five  lines  obscure  and  mutilated) 

Wine  in  receptacles  I  collected,  like  the  waters  of  a  river; 
also  [food],  like  the  dust  of  the  earth,  I  collected  in  boxes 
[and  stored  up.]  And  Shamas  the  material  of  the  ship 
completed  [and  made  it]  strong.  And  the  reed  oars  of  the 
ship  I  caused  them  to  bring  [and  place]  above  and  below. 
....  All  I  possessed  of  silver,  all  I  possessed  of  gold,  all 
I  possessed  of  the  seed  of  life,  I  caused  to  ascend  into  the 
ship.  All  my  male  servants,  all  my  female  servants,  all  the 
beasts  of  the  field,  all  the  animals,  all  the  sons  of  the  people, 
I  caused  to  go  up.  A  flood  Shamas  made,  and  thus  he 
spake  in  the  night:  'I  will  cause  it  to  rain  from  heaven 
heavi!>.  Enter  into  the  midst  of  the  ship,  and  shut  thy 
door.'  *' 

The  command  of  Shamas  is  obeyed,  and  then  "  The 
raging  of  a  storm  in  the  morning  arose,  from  the  horizon 
of  heaven  extending  far  and  wide.  Vul  in  the  midst  of  it 
thundered  :  Nebo  and  Saru  went  in  front  :  the  throne- 
bearers  sped  over  mountains  and  plains  :  the  destroyer, 
Nergal,  overturned  :  Ninip  went  in  front  and  cast  down  : 
the  spirits  spread  abroad  destruction  :  in  their  fury  they 
swept  the  earth  :  the  flood  of  Vul  reached  to  heaven.  The 
bright  earth  to  a  waste  was  turned  :  the  storm  o'er  its  sur- 
face swept  :  from  the  face  of  the  earth  was  life  destroyed  : 
the  strong  flood  that  had  whelmed  mankind  reached  to 
heaven  :  brother  saw  not  brother  ;  the  flood  did  not  spare 
tho  people.  Even  in  heaven  the  gods  feared  the  tempest, 
and  sought  refuge  in  the  abode  of  Ami.  Like  dogs  the 
gods  crouched  down,  and  cowered  together.  Spake  Jshtar, 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.         59 

like  n  child — uttered  the  great  goddess  her  speech  :  "  When 
the  world  to  coiTiiption  turned,  then  I  in  the  presence  of 
the  gods  prophesied  evil.  When  I  in  the  presence  of  the 
gods  prophesied  evil,  then  to  evil  were  devoted  all  my  chil- 
dren, I,  the  mother,  have  given  birth  to  my  people,  and 
lo  !  now  like  the  young  of  fishes  they  fill  the  sea.'  The 
gods  were  weeping  for  the  spirits  with  her  ;  the  gods  in 
their  seats  were  sitting  in  lamentation  ;  covered  were  their 
lips  on  account  of  the  coming  evil.  Six  days  and  nights 
passed  ;  the  wind,  the  flood,  the  storm  overwhelmed.  On 
the  seventh  day,  in  its  course  was  calmed  the  storm  ;  and 
all  the  tempest,  which  had  destroyed  like  an  earthquake, 
was  quieted.  The  flood  lie  caused  to  dry  ;  the  wind  and 
the  deluge  ended.  I  beheld  the  tossing  of  the  sea,  and 
mankind  all  turned  to  corruption  ;  like  reeds  the  corpses 
floated.  I  opened  the  window,  and  the  light  broke  over  my 
face.  It  passed.  I  sat  down  and  wept  ;  over  my  face 
flowed  my  tears.  I  saw  the  shore  at  the  edge  of  the  sea  ; 
for  twelve  measures  the  land  rose.  To  the  country  of 
Nizir  went  the  ship  :  the  mountain  of  Nizir  stopped  the 
ship  :  to  pass  over  it  was  not  able.  The  first  day  and  the 
second  day  the  mountain  of  Nizir,  the  same  ;  the  third  day 
and  the  fourth  day  the  mountain  of  Nizir,  the  same  ;  the 
fifth  and  sixth  the  mountain  of  Nizir,  the  same ;  in  the 
course  of  the  seventh  day  I  sent  out  a  dove,  and  it  left. 
The  dove  went  to  and  fro,  and  a  resting-place  it  did  not 
find,  and  it  returned.  I  sent  forth  a  swallow,  and  it  left  ; 
the  swallow  went  to  and  fro,  and  a  resting-place  it  did  not 
find,  and  it  returned.  I  sent  forth  a  raven,  and  it  left ;  the 
raven  went,  and  the  corpses  on  the  waters  it  saw,  and  it 
did  eat :  it  swam,  and  wandered  away,  and  returned  not. 
I  sent  the  animals  forth  to  the  four  winds  :  I  poured  out 
a  libation  :  I  built  an  altar  on  the  peak  of  the  mountain  : 
seven  jugs  of  wine  I  took  ;  at  the  bottom  I  placed  reeds, 
pines,  and  spices.  The  gods  collected  to  the  burning  :  the 
gods  collected  to  the  good  burning.  Like  sttnipe  (?)  over 
the  sacrifice  they  gathered.'  " 

One  more  example  must  conclude  our  specimens  of  the 
legends  current  among  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  in 
ancient  times.  As  the  preceding  passage  in  myth  based 
upon  history,  the  concluding  one  shall  be  taken  from  that 
portion  of  Assyrian  lore  which  is  purely  and  wholly  imagi- 


60  RELIGION  OF  ASSTEIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

native.     The  descent  of  Ishtar  to  Hades,  perhaps  in  search 
of  Tammuz,  is  related  as  follows  *  : — 

"  To  the  land  of  Hades,  the  land  of  her  desire,  Ishtar, 
daughter  of  the  Moon-god  Sin,  turned  her  mind.  The 
daughter  of  Sin  fixed  her  mind  to  go  to  the  House  where 
all  meet,  the  dwelling  of  the  god  Iskalla,  to  the  house 
which  men  enter,  but  cannot  depart  from — the  road  which 
men  travel,  but  never  retrace — the  abode  of  darkness  and 
of  famine,  where  earth  is  their  food,  their  nourishment  clay 
— where  light  is  not  seen,  but  in  darkness  they  dwell — 
where  ghosts,  like  birds,  flutter  their  wings,  and  on  the 
door  and  the  door-posts  the  dust  lies  undisturbed. 

"  When  Ishtar  arrived  at  the  gate  of  Hades,  to  the 
keeper  of  the  gate  a  word  she  spake  :  "  O  keeper  of  the 
entrance,  open  thy  gate  !  Open  thy  gate,  I  say  again,  that" 
I  may  enter  in  !  If  than  openest  not  thy  gate,  if  I  do  not 
enter  in,  I  will  assault  the  door,  the  gate  I  will  break  down, 
I  will  attack  the  entrance,  I  will  split  open  the  portals.  I 
will  raise  the  dead,  to  be  the  devourers  of  the  living  ! 
Upon  the  living  the  dead  shall  prey.'  Then  the  porter 
opened  his  mouth  and  spake,  and  thus  he  said  to  great 
Ishtar  :  '  Stay,  lady,  do  not  shake  down  the  door  ;  I  will 
go  and  inform  Queen  Nin-ki-gal.'  So  the  porter  went  in 
and  to  Nin-ki-gal  said:  'These  curses  .thy  sister  Ishtar 
utters  ;  yea,  she  blasphemes  thee  with  fearful  curses.'  And 
Nin-ki-gal,  hearing  the  words,  grew  pale,  like  a  flower  when 
cut  from  the  step  ;  like  the  stalk  of  a  reed,  she  shook. 
And  she  said,  *  I  will  cure  her  rage — I  will  speedily  cure 
her  fury.  Her  curses  I  will  repay.  Light  up  consuming 
flames  !  Light  up  a  blaze  of  straw  !  Be  her  doom  with 
the  husbands  who  left  their  wives  ;  be  her  doom  with  the 
wives  who  forsook  their  lords  ;  be  her  doom  with  the  youths 
of  dishonored  lives.  Go,  porter,  and  open  the  gate  for  her  ; 
but  strip  her,  as  some  have  been  stripped  ere  now.'  The 
porter  went  and  opened  the  gate.  '  Lady  of  Tiggaba,  en- 
ter,' he  said  :  '  Enter.  It  is  permitted.  The  Queen  of 
Hades  to  meet  thec  comes.'  So  the  first  gate  let  her  in,  but 
she  was  stopped,  and  there  the  great  crown  was  taken  from 
her  head.  *  Keeper,  do  not  take  off  from  me  the  crown 
that  is  on  my  head.'  '  Excuse  it,  lady,  the  Queen  of  the 

*  The  translation  of  Mr.  Fox  Talbot,  as  given  in  the  "  Transactions 
of  th«  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  110-124,  and  again 
In  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.  pp.  14:*-140,  is  here  followed. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  TUE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        01 

Land  insists  upon  its  removal.'  The  next  gate  let  her  in, 
but  she  was  stopped,  and  there  the  ear-rings  were  taken 
from  her  ears.  '  Keeper,  do  not  take  off  from  me  the  ear- 
rings from  my  ears.'  '  Excuse  it,  lady,  the  Queen  of  the 
Land  insists  upon  their  removal.'  The  third  gate  let  her 
in,  but  she  was  stopped,  and  there  the  precious  stones  were 
taken  from  her  head.  '  Keeper,  do  not  take  off  from  me 
the  gems  that  adorn  my  head.'  'Excuse  it,  lady,  the  Queen 
of  the  Land  insists  upon  their  removal.'  The  fourth  gate 
let  her  in,  but  she  was  stopped,  and  there  the  small  jewels 
were  taken  from  her  brow.  *  Keeper,  do  not  take  off  from 
me  the  small  jewels  that  deck  my  brow.'  '  Excuse  it,  lady, 
the  Queen  of  the  Land  insists  upon  their  removal.'  The  fifth 
gate  let  her  in,  but  she  was  stopped,  and  there  the  girdle 
was  taken  from  her  waist.  '  Keeper,  do  not  take  off  from 
me  the  girdle  that  girds  my  waist.'  *  Excuse  it,  lady,  the 
Queen  of  the  Land  insists  upon  its  removal.'  The  sixth 
gate  let  her  in,  but  she  was  stopped,  and  there  the  gold 
rings  were  taken  from  her  hands  and  feet.  '  Keeper,  do 
not  take  off  from  me  the  gold  rings  of  my  hands  and  feet.' 

*  Excuse  it,  lady,  the  Queen  of  the  Land  insists  upon  their 
removal.'     The  seventh  gate  let  her  in,  but  she  was  stopped, 
and    there   the   last   garment   was   taken  from  her    body. 

*  Keeper,  do  not  take  off,  I  pray,  the  last  garment  from  my 
body.'     'Excuse  it,  lacTy,  the  Queen   of  the   Land   insists 
upon  its  removal.' 

"After  that  Mother  Ishtar  had  descended  into  Hades, 
Nin-ki-gal  saw  and  derided  her  to  her  face.  Then  Ishtar 
lost  her  reason,  and  heaped  curses  upon  the  other.  Nin-ki- 
gal  hereupon  opened  her  mouth,  and  spake  :  '  Go,  Namtar, 
.  .  .  .  and  bring  her  out  for  punishment,  .  .  .  afflict  her  with 
disease  of  the  eye,  the  side,  the  feet,  the  heart,  the  head' 
(some  lines  effaced)  .... 

"  The  Divine  messenger  of  the  gods  lacerated  his  face 
before  them.  The  assembly  of  the  gods  was  full.  .  .  .  The 
Sun  came,  along  with  the  Moon,  his  father,  and  weeping 
he  spake  thus  unto  Ilea,  the  king  :  '  Ishtar  has  descended 
into  the  earth,  and  has  not  risen  again  ;  and  ever  since  the 

time   that  Mother  Ishtar  descended   into   hell, the 

master  has  ceased  from  commanding  ;  the  slave  has  ceased 
from  obeying.'  Then  the  god  Hea  in  the  depth  of  his  mind 
formed  a  design  ;  he  modeled,  for  her  escape,  the  figure 
of  a  man  of  clay.  '  Go  to  save  her,  Phantom,  present  thy- 


62    RELIGION  OF  ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS. 

self  at  the  portal  of  Hades  ;  the  seven  gates  of  Hades  will 
all  open  before  thee ;  Nm-ki-gal  will  see  thee,  and  take 
pleasure  because  of  thee.  When  her  mind  has  grown 
calm,  and  her  anger  has  worn  itself  away,  awe  her  with 
the  names  of  the  great  gods  !  Then  prepare  thy  frauds  ! 
Fix  on  deceitful  tricks  thy  mind  !  Use  the  chiefest  of  thy 
tricks  !  Bring  forth  fish  out  of  an  empty  vessel !  That 
will  astonish  Nin-ki-gal,  and  to  Ishtar  she  will  restore  her 
clothing.  The  reward — a  great  reward — for  these  things 
shall  not  fail.  Go,  Phantom,  save  her,  and  the  great  as- 
sembly of  the  people  shall  crown  thee !  Meats,  the  best 
in  the  city,  shall  be  thy  food  !  Wine,  the  most  delicious 
in  the  city,  shall  be  thy  drink  !  A  royal  palace  shall  be 
thy  dwelling,  a  throne  of  state  shall  be  thy  seat !  Magi- 
cian and  conjuror  shall  kiss  the  hem  of  thy  garment ! ' 

"  Nin-ki-gal  opened  her  mouth  and  spake ;  to  her 
messenger,  Namtnr,  commands  she  gave :  '  Go,  Namtar, 
the  Temple  of  Justice  adorn  !  Deck  the  images  !  Deck 
the  altars  !  Bring  out  Anunnak,  and  let  him  take  his  seat 
on  a  throne  of  gold !  Pour  out  for  Ishtar  the  water  of 
life ;  from  my  realms  let  her  depart.'  Namtar  obeyed  ;  he 
adorned  the  Temple;  decked  the  images,  decked  the  altars; 
brought  out  Anunnak,  and  let  him  take  his  seat  on  a  throne 
of  gold;  poured  out  for  Ishtar  the  water  of  life,  and 
suffered  her  to  depart.  Then  the  first  gate  let  her  out, 
and  gave  her  back  the  garment  of  her  form.  The  next 
gate  let  her  out,  and  gave  her  back  the  jewels  for  her 
hands  and  feet.  The  third  gate  let  her  out,  and  gave  her 
back  the  girdle  for  her  waist.  The  fourth  gate  let  her 
out,  and  gave  her  back  the  small  gems  she  had  worn  upon 
her  brow.  The  fifth  gate  let  her  out,  and  gave  her  back 
the  precious  stones  that  had  been  upon  her  head.  The 
sixth  gate  let  her  out,  and  gave  her  back  the  ear-rings  that 
were  taken  from  her  ears.  And  the  seventh  gate  let  her 
out,  and  gave  her  back  the  crown  she  had  carried  on  her 
head." 

So  ends  this  curious  legend,  and  with  it  the  limits  of 
our  space  require  that  we  should  terminate  this  notice  of 
the  religion  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       63 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    RELIGION    OF    THE    ANCIENT   IRANIANS. 

'A/^ff-oreAtff  <t>J]al  6vo  rear'  aiiTovz  elrat  ap^ag,  ayadbv  6ai/J,ova  /cat  Hanoi 
ialfiova. — DioG.  Laert.  Proem,  p.  2. 

THE  Iranians  were  in  ancient  times  the  dominant  race 
throughout  the  entire  tract  lying  between  the  Suliman 
mountains  and  the  Pamir  steppe  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
great  Mesopotamia!!  valley  on  the  other.  Intermixed  in 
portions  of  the  tract  with  a  Cushite  or  Nigritic,  and  in 
others  with  a  Turanian  element,  they  possessed,  neverthe- 
less, upon  the  whole,  a  decided  preponderance ;  and  the 
tract  itself  has  been  known  as  "  Ariana,"  or  "Iran,"  at  any 
rate  from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  the  present 
day !  *  The  region  is  one  in  which  extremes  are  brought 
into  sharp  contrast,  and  forced  on  human  observation,  the 
summers  being  intensely  hot,  and  the  winters  piercingly 
cold,  the  more  favored  portions  luxuriantly  fertile,  the  re- 
mainder an  arid  and  frightful  desert.  If,  as  seems  to  be 
now  generally  thought  by  the  best  informed  and  deepest 
investigators,!  the  light  of  primeval  relation  very  early 
faded  away  in  Asia,  and  religions  there  were  in  the  main 
elaborated  out  of  the  working  upon  the  circumstances  of 
his  environment,  of  that  "  religious  faculty "  wherewith 
God  had  endowed  mankind,  we  might  expect  that  in  this 
peculiar  region  a  peculiar  religion  should  develop  itself — a 
religion  of  strong  antitheses  and  sharp  contrasts,  unlike 
that  of  such  homogeneous  tracts  as  the  Nile  valley  and  the 
Mesopotamian  plain,  where  climate  was  almest  uniform, 

*  Strabo,  who  is  the  earliest  of  extant  writers  to'use  "  Ariana  " 
In  this  broad  sense,  probably  obtained  the  terra  from  the  contempo- 
raries of  Alexander.  It  was  certainly  used  by  Appollodvrus  of 
Artemitafab.  B.C.  130). 

t  See  Max  Miiller,  "  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Religion," 
Lecture  I.  pp.  40,  41. 


64      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

and  a  monotonous  fertility  spread  around  universal  abun« 
dance.  The  fact  answers  to  our  natural  anticipation.  At  a 
time  which  it  is  difficult  to  date,  but  which  those  best 
skilled  in  Iranian  antiquities  are  inclined  to  place  before 
the  birth  of  Moses,*  there  grew  up,  in  the  region  whereof 
we  are  speaking,  a  form  of  religion  marked  by  very  special 
and  unusual  features,  very  unlike  the  religions  of  Egypt 
and  Assyria,  a  thing  quite  sui  generis,  one  very  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  those  who  are  interested  in  the  past  history 
of  the  human  race,  and  more  especially  of  such  as  wish 
to  study  the  history  of  religions. 

Ancient  tradition  associates  this  religion  with  the  name 
of  Zoroaster.  Zoroaster,  or  Zarathrustra,  according  to  the 
native  spelling,  f  was,  by  one  account,  J  a  Median  king 
who  conquered  Babylon  about  B.  c.  2458.  By  anothei-, 
which  is  more  probable,  and  which  rests,  moreover,  on 
better  authority,  he  was  a  Bactrian,§  who,  at  a  date  not 
quite  so  remote,  came  forward  in'  the  broad  plain  of  the 
middle  Oxus  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  his  countrymen  the 
doctrines  and  precepts  of  a  new  religion.  Claiming  divine 
inspiration,  and  professing  to  hold  from  time  to  time  direct 
conversation  with  the  Supreme  Being,  he  delivered  his 
revelations  in  a  mythical  form,  and  obtained  their  general 
acceptance  as  divine  by  the  Bactrian  people.  His  religion 
gradually  spread  from  "happy  Bactra,"  "  Bactra  of  the 
lofty  banner,"  ||  first  to  the  neighboring  countries,  and  then 
to  all  the  numerous  tribes  of  the  Iranians,  until  at  last  it 
became  the  established  religion  of  the  mighty  empire  of 
Persia,  which,  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  before 
our  era,  established  itself  on  the  ruin*  of  the  Assyrian  and 
Babylonian  kingdoms,  and  shortly  afterwards  overran  and 
subdued  the  ancient  monarchy  of  the  Pharaohs.  In  Persia 
it  maintained  its  ground,  despite  the  shocks  of  Grecian 
and  Parthian  conquest,  until  Mohammedan  intolerance 
drove  it  out  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  and  forced  it  to  seek 
a  refuge  further  east,  in  the  peninsula  of  Hindustan.  Here 
it  still  continues,  in  Guzerat  and  in  Bombay,  the  creed  of 

*  Haug,  "  Essays  on  the  Religion,  etc.,  of  the  Parsees,"  p.  255. 
t  See  "  Zendavesta,"  passim. 
|  Berosus  ap.  Syncell    "  Olironographia,"  p.  147. 
§  Hermipp.  ap.  Amob.     "  Adv.  (Jentes,"  i.  52;  Justin,  i.  1;  Amm. 
Marc,  xxiii.  6;  Mosrs  Choreii.  "  Hist.  Arinen."  i.  5. 
li  "  Vondidad,"  Furg.  ii.  s.  7. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       65 

that  ingenious  and  intelligent  people  known  to  Anglo* 
Indians — and  may  we  not  say  to  Englishmen  generally  ? — • 
as  Parsees. 

The  religion  of  the  Parsees  is  contained  in  a  volume  of 
some  size,  which  has  received  the  name  of  "the  Zenda- 
vesta."  *  Subjected  for  the  last  fifty  years  to  the  searching 
analysis  of  first-rate  orientalists — Burnouf,  Westergaard, 
Brockhaus,  Spiegel,  Haug,  Windischmann,  Htibschmann — 
this  work  has  been  found  to  belong  iu  its  various  parts  to 
very  different  dates,  and  to  admit  of  being  so  dissected  f  as 
to  reveal  to  us,  not  only  what  are  the  tenets  of  the  modern 
Parsees,  but  what  was  the  earliest  form  of  that  religion 
whereof  theirs  is  the  remote  and  degenerate  descendant. 
Signs  of  a  great  antiquity  are  found  to  attach  to  the  lan- 
guage of  certain  rhythmical  compositions,  called  Gathas  or 
hymns ;  and  the  religious  ideas  contained  in  these  are  found 
to  be  at  once  harmonious,  and  also  of  a  simpler  and  more 
primitive  character  than  those  contained  in  the  rest  of  the 
volume.  From  the  Gathas  chiefly,  but  also  to  some  extent 
from  other,  apparently  very  ancient,  portions  of  the  Zenda- 
vesta,  the  characteristics  of  the  early  Iranian  religion  have 
been  drawn  out  by  various  scholars,  particularly  by  Dr.  Mar- 
tin Haug  ;  and  it  is  from  the  labors  of  these  writers,  in  the 
main,  that  we  shall  be  content  to  draw  our  picture  of  the 
religion  in  question. 

The  most  striking  feature  of  the  religion,  and  that  which 
is  generally  allowed  to  be  its  leading  characteristic,  is  the 
assertion  of  Dualism.  By  Dualism  we  mean  the  belief  in 
two  original  uncreated  principles,  a  principle  of  good  and  a 
principle  of  evil.  This  creed  was  not  perhaps  contained  in 
the  teaching  of  Zoroaster  himself, t  but  it  was  developed  at 
so  early  a  date  §  out  of  that  teaching,  that  in  treating 

*  Anquetil  Duperron  introduced  the  sacred  book  of  the  Parsees 
to  the  knowledge  of  Europeans  under  this  name;  and  the  word  thus 
introduced  can  scarcely  be  HOW  displaced.  Othersvise  "  Avesta-Zend  " 
might  be  recommended  as  the  more  proper  title.  ki  Avesta"  means 
"text,"  and  "Zend"'  means  ''comment."  "Avestau  Zend,"  or 
"  Text  and  Comment  "  is  the  proper  title,  which  is  then  contracted 
into  "  Avesta-Zend." 

t  Haug,  "Essays,"  pp.  136-1:38;  Max  Miiller,  "Introduction  to 
the  Science  of  Religion,"  pp.  20-29. 

t  See  the  Author's  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  51. 

§  The  Second  Fargard  of  the  "Vendidad,"  which  from  internal 
evidence  may  be  pronounced  earlier  than  B.  c.  800,  is  as  strongly 
Dualistic  as  any  other  portion  of  the  volume. 


66      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

generally  of  the  Iranian  religion  we  must  necessarily  regard 
Dualism  as  a  part  of  it.  The  Iranians  of  historic  times  held 
that  from  all  eternity  there  had  existed  two  mighty  and 
rival  beings,  the  authors  of  all  other  existences,  who  had 
been  engaged  in  a  perpetual  contest,  each  seeking  to  injure, 
baffle,  and  in  every  way  annoy  and  thwart  the  other.  Both 
principles  were  real  persons,  possessed  of  will,  intelligence, 
power,  consciousness,  and  other  personal  qualities.  To  the 
one  they  gave  the  name  of  Ahura-Mazda,  to  the  other  that 
of  Angro-Mainyus. 

Here  let  us  pause  for  a  moment,  and  consider  the  import 
of  these  two  names.  Names  of  deities,  as  Professor  Max 
Miiller  has  well  pointed  out,*  are  among  the  most  interest- 
ing of  studies ;  and  a  proper  understanding  of  their  mean- 
ing throws  frequently  very  considerable  lighten  the  nature 
and  character  of  a  religion.  Now,  Ahura-Mazda  is  a  word 
composed  of  three  elements  :  "  Ahura,"  "  maz,"  "  da."  The 
first  of  these  is  properly  an  adjective,  signifying,  "  living ;" 
it  corresponds  to  "  asura  "  in  Sanskrit,  and  like  that  passes 
from  an  adjectival  to  a  substantival  force,  and  is  used  for 
"living  being,"  especially  for  living  beings  superior  to  man. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  best  expressed  in  English  by  the  word 
"  spirit,"  only  that  \ve  must  not  regard  absolute  immateri- 
ality as  implied  in  it.  "  Maz  "  is  cognate  to  the  "  maj  "  in 
major,  and  the  "mag"  or  "  meg  "  in  "  magnus  "  and  /^/«f ; 
it  is  an  intensitive,  and  means  "much."  "Da  "  or  "dao"  is 
a  word  of  a  double  meaning ;  it  is  a  participle,  or  verbal 
adjective,  and  signifies  either  "  giving "  or  "  knowing," 
being  connected  with  the  Latin  "do,"  "dare"  (Greek 
<J<v5u/«),  "  to  give,"  and  with  the  Greek  daf/vat,  tafjituv, 
"  to  know,"  "  knowing."  The  entire  word  "  Ahura-Mazdn," 
thus  means  either,  "the  much-knowing  spirit,"  or  the 
"much-giving  spirit,"  the  "all-bountiful,"  or  "the  all- 
wise."  f 

Angro-  Mainyus  contains  two  elements  only,  an  adjec- 
tive and  a  substantive.  "Angro  "is  akin  to  "niger,"  and 
so  to  "negro;"  it  means  simply  "black"  or  "dark." 
"  Mainyus,"  a  substantive,  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  the 

•  "  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Religion,"  Lecture  III.  pp. 
171  et  aeqq. 

t  See  1 1. in-,  "  Essays,"  p.  33;  Brockhaus.  "  Vendidad-SadeY'  pp. 
347  and  385:  and  Sir  H.  Rawlinson,  "  Persian  Vocabulary,"  ad  voc. 
"  Auramazda." 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       07 

Latin  "mens,"  and  the  Greek  ftevof.  It  means  "  mind," 
"  intelligence."  Thus  Angro-Mainyus  is  the  "  black  or 
dark  intelligence." 

Thus  the  names  themselves  sufficiently  indicated  to  those 
who  first  used  them  the  nature  of  the  two  beings.  Ahura- 
Mazda  was  the  "  all-bountiful,  all-wise,  living  being "  or 
"  spirit,"  who  stood  at  the  head  of  all  that  was  good  and 
lovely,  beautiful  and  delightful.  Angro-Mainyus  was  the 
"dark  and  gloomy  intelligence,"  that  had  from  the  first 
been  Ahura-Mazda's  enemy,  and  was  bent  on  thwarting  and 
vexing  him.  And  with  these  fundamental  notions  agreed 
all  that  the  sacred  books  taught  concerning  either  being. 
Ahura-Mazda  was  declared  to  be  "  the  creator  of  life,  the 
earthly  and  the  spiritual ; "  he  had  made  "  the  celestial 
bodies,"  "  earth,  water,  and  trees,"  "  all  good  creatures,"  and 
"all  good,  true  things."  He  was  "good,"  "holy,"  "pure," 
"  true,"  "  the  holy  god,"  "  the  holiest,"  "  the  essence  of 
truth,"  "  the  father  of  truth,"  "  the  best  being  of  all,"  '4  the 
master  of  purity."  Supremely  happy,  he  possessed  every 
blessing,  "  health,  wealth,  virtue,  wisdom,  immortality."  * 
from  him  came  all  good  to  man — on  the  pious  and  the  right- 
eous he  bestowed,  not  only  earthly  advantages,  but  precious 
spiritual  gifts,  truth,  devotion,  "  the  good  mind,"  and  ever- 
lasting happiness;  and,  as  he  rewarded  the  good,  so  he  also 
punished  the  bad,  although  this  was  an  aspect  in  which  he 
was  but  seldom  contemplated. 

Angro-Mainyus,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  creator  and 
upholder  of  everything  that  was  evil.  Opposed  to  Abuia- 
Masda  from  the  beginning,  he  had  been  engaged  in  a  per- 
petual warfare  with  him.  Whatever  good  thing  Ahuia- 
Muzda  had  created,  Angro-Mainyus  had  corrupted  and 
ruined  it.f  Moral  and  physical  evils  were  alike  at  his  dis- 
posal. He  could  blast  the  earth  with  barrenness,  or  make 
it  produce  thorns,  thistles,  and  poisonous  plants ;  his  were 
the  earthquake,  the  storm,  the  plague  of  hail,  the  thunder- 
bolt;  lie  could  cause  disease  and  death,  sweep  off  a  nation's 
flocks  and  herds  by  murrain,  or  depopulate  a  continent  by 
pestilence ;  ferocious  wild  beasts,  serpents,  toads,  mice, 

*  The  expressions  in  inverted  commas  are  all  taken  from  Hang's 
translations  of  the  Yaana  given  in  his  "  Essays."  The  exact  place 
of  each  is  noted  in  the  Author's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii. 
48,  49. 

t  See  the  Second  Fargard  of  the  *'  Vendidad,"  which  is  given  at 
length  in  the  above-mentioned  work,  vol.  iii.  pp.  238-240. 


68      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

hornets,  musquitoes,  were  his  creation  ;  he  had  invented  and 
introduced  into  the  world  the  sins  of  witchcraft,  murder, 
unbelief,  cannibalism  ;  he  excited  wars  and  tumults,  con- 
tinually stirred  up  the  bad  against  the  good,  and  labored 
by  every  possible  expedient  to  make  vice  triumph  over 
virtue.  Ahura-Mazda  could  exercise  no  control  over  him  ; 
the  utmost  that  he  could  do  was  to  keep  a  perpetual  watch 
upon  his  rival,  and  seek  to  baffle  and  defeat  him.  This  he 
was  not  always  able  to  do ;  despite  his  best  endeavors, 
Angro-Mainyus  was  not  unfrequently  victorious. 

^The  two  great  beings  who  thus  divided  between  them 
the  empire  of  the  universe,  were  neither  of  them  content  to 
be  solitary.  Each  had  called  into  existence  a  number  of  in- 
ferior spirits,  who  acknowledged  their  sovereignty,  fought  on 
their  side,  and  sought  to  execute  their  behests.  At  the 
head  of  the  good  spirits  subject  to  Ahura-Mazda  stood  a 
band  of  six  dignified  with  the  title  of  Amesha-Spentas,  or 
"  Immortal  Holy  Ones,"  the  chief  assistants  of  the  Prin- 
ciple of  Good  both  in  counsel  and  in  action.  These  were 
Vohu-mano,  or  Bahman,  the  "  Good  Mind  " ;  Asha-vahista, 
or  Ardibehesht,  "  the  Highest  Truth ;  "  Khshathra-vairya, 
or  Shahravar,  the  genius  of  wealth :  Spenta-Armaiti  (Island- 
armat),  the  genius  of  the  Earth :  Haurvatat  (Khordad),  the 
genius  of  Health  :  and  Ameretat  (Amerdat),  the  genius  of 
Immortality.*  In  direct  antithesis  to  these  stood  the 
band,  likewise  one  of  six,  which  formed  the  council  and 
chief  support  of  Angro-Mainyus,  namely,  Akomano,  "  the 
Bad  Mind  "  :  Indra,  the  god  of  storms :  Saurva :  Naonhaitya: 
Taric  :  and  Zaric.f  Besides  these  leading  spirits  there  was 
marshalled  on  either  side  an  innumerable  host  of  lesser  and 
subordinate  ones,  called  respectively  ahuras  and  devas,  who 
constituted  the  armies  or  attendants  of  the  two  great 
powers  and  were  employed  by  them  to  work  out  their  pur- 
poses. The  leader  of  the  angelic  hosts,  or  ahuras,  was  a 
glorious  being,  called  Sraosha  or  Serosh  j — "  the  good,  tall, 
fair  Serosh,"  who  stood  in  the  Zoroastrian  system  where 
Michael  the  Archangel  stands  in  the  Christian. §  The 

•  Haug,  "Essays,"  p.  2(53;  Pusey,  "Lectures  on  Daniel,"  pp. 
636,  537. 

t  Haug,  1.  s.  c. ;  Windischinann,  "  Zoroastrische  Studien,"  p  59. 

J  On  Serosli.  see  the  Author's  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.  pp. 
56,57. 

§  It  is  no  doubt  true,  -as  Dr.  Pusey  observes   ("  Lectures  on 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  \YOKLD.       69 

armies  of  Angro-Mainyus  hud  no  such  single  leader,  but 
fought  under  the  orders  of  a  number  of  co-equal  captains 
as  Drukhs,  "  destruction  "  :  Aushemo,  "rapine  "  :  Daivis, 
"deceit":  Driwis,  "poverty":  and  others.  Offering  an 
uninterrupted  and  dogged  resistance  to  the  army  of  Ahura- 
Mazda,  they  maintained  the  struggle  on  something  like 
equal  terms,  and  showed  no  sign  of  any  intention  to  make 
their  submission. 

Neither  Ahura-Mazda  nor  the  Amesha-Spentas  were  rep 
resented  by  the  early  Iranians  under  any  material  forms 
The  Zoroastrian  system  was  markedly  anti-idolatrous  * 
and  the  utmost  that  was  allowed  the  worshipper  was  ae 
emblematic  representation  of  the  Supreme  Being  by  meant 
of  a  winged  circle,  with  which  was  occasionally  combined 
an  incomplete  human  figure,  robed  and  wearing  a  tiara.  A 


WINGED    CIRCLE. 

four-winged  figure  at  ]\Iurgab,  the  ancient  Pasargadae,  is 
also  possibly  a  representation  of  Serosh  ;  but  otherwise  the 
objects  of  their  religious  regards  were  not  exhibited  in 
material  shapes  by  the  early  Iranians. 

Among  the  angelic  beings  reverenced  by  the  Iranians 
lower  than  the  Amesha-Spentas,  but  still  of  a  very  high 
rank  and  dignity,  were  Mithra,  the  genius  of  light,  early 
identified  with  the  sun;  Tistrya,  the  Dog-star;*  Airy  am  an, 
a  genius  presiding  over  marriage  ;  t  and  others.  Mithra 
was  originally  not  held  in  very  high  esteem;  but  by  degrees 

Daniel,"  p.  535),  that  the  characters  of  the  Amesha-Spentas,  and  of 
the  other  great  spirits  or  genii  of  the  Zendavesta,  is  altogether  "below 
^hat  of  the  holy  angels,"  and  that  the  term  "  archangel,"  if  applied 
to  any  of  them,  is  "a  misnomer 1?  (Ibid.  p.  538).  But  still  there  is 
jufficient  resemblance  to  make  the  comparison  natural  and  not  Im- 
proper. 

*  "  Zendavesta."  iii.  72  (Splgel's  edition). 

t  Haug,  "Essays,"  p.  2:»1. 


POUT.-WINOED  FIGURE  AT  MT'RflAB. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        71 

he  was  advanced,  and  ultimately  came  to  occupy  a  place 
only  a  little  inferior  to  that  assigned  from  the  first  to 
Ahur:i-M:izda.  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes,  placed  the 
emblems  of  Ahura-Mazda  and  of  Mithra  in  equally  con- 
spicuous positions  on  the  sculptured  tablet  above  his  tomb ; 
and  his  example  was  followed  by  all  the  later  monarchs  of 
his  race  whose  sepulchres  are  still  in  existence.*  Artaxerxes 
Miu'inon  placed  an  image  of  Mithra  in  the  temple  attached 
to  the  royal  palace  at  Susa.f  He  also  in  his  inscriptions 
unites  Mithra  with  Ahum-Mazda,  and  prays  for  their  con- 
joint protection.!  Artaxerxes  Ochus  does  the  same  a  little 
later  ;§  and  the  practice  is  also  observed  in  portions  of  the 
Zendavesta  composed  about  ||  this  period.  Ahura-Mazda 
and  Mithra  are  called  "the  two  great  ones,"  "the  two 
great,  imperishable,  and  pure."  If 

The  position  of  man  in  the  cosmic  scheme  was  deter- 
mined by  the  fact  that  he  was  among  the  creations  of 
Ahura-Mazda.  Formed  and  placed  on  earth  by  the  Good 
Being,  he  was  bound  to  render  him  implicit  obedience,  and 
to  oppose  to  the  utmost  Angro-Mainyus  and  his  creatures. 
His  duties  might  be  summed  up  under  the  four  heads  of 
piety,  purity,  industry,  and  veracity.  Piety  was  to  be 
shown  by  an  acknowledgment  of  Ahura-Mnzda  as  the  One 
True  God,  by  a  reverential  regard  for  the  Amesha-Spentas 
and  the  Izeds,  or  lower  angels,  by  the  frequent  offering  of 
prayers,  praises,  and  thanksgivings,  the  recitation  of  hymns, 
the  occasional  sacrifice  of  animals,  and  the  performance 
from  time  to  time  of  a  curious  ceremony  known  as  that  of 
the  Haoma  or  Homa.  This  consisted  in  the  extraction  of 
the  juice  of  the  Homa  plant  by  the  priests  during  the  reci- 
tation of  prayers,  the  formal  presentation  of  the  liquid  ex- 
tracted to  the  sacrificial  fire,  the  consumption  of  a  small 
portion  of  it  by  one  of  the  officiating  ministers,  and  the 
division  of  the  remainder  among  the  worshippers.**  In 
sacrifices  the  priests  were  also  necessary  go-betweens.  The 

*  See  the  Author's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"   vol.   iii.   p.  429,   and 
Flandin,  "  Voyage  en  Perse,"  pis.  104  bis.  166.  17:3-176. 
t  Loftus,  "  Chaldtea  and  Susiana."  p.  372. 
t  Ibid. 
§  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  "Cuneiform  Inscriptions,"  vol.  i.  p.  342. 

"  Yasna,"  i.  34;  ii.  44;  iii.  48;  "  Mihr  Yasht."  113. 
7  See  Pusey's  "  Lectures  on  Daniel,"  p.  542,  note  3. 
•*  See  Hang,  "  Essays,"  p.  239. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  TlIE  ANCIENT  WOULD.        78 

most  approved  victim  was  the  horse  ;  *  but  it  was  likewise 
allowable  to  offer  oxen,  sheep  or  goats.  The  animal  having 
been  brought  before  an  altar  on  which  burnt  the  sacred  fire, 
kindled  originally  (according  to  the  general  belief)  from 
heaven,  was  there  slain  by  a  priest,  who  took  of  the  flesh 
and  showed  it  to  the  sacrificial  fire,  after  which  the  victim 
was  cooked  and  eaten  at  a  solemn  meal  by  the  priests  and 
worshippers  united. 

The  purity  required  of  the  Iranians  was  inward  as  well 
as  outward.  Outward  purity  had  to  be  maintained  by  a 
multiplicity  of  external  observances,  f  forming  in  their  en- 
tirety a  burden  as  heavy  to  bear  as  that  imposed  by  the 
Mosaic  ceremonial  law  on  the  people  of  Israel.  But  inward 
purity  was  not  neglected.  Not  only  were  the  Iranians  re- 
quired to  refrain  from  all  impure  acts,  but  also  from  impure 
words,  and  even  from  impure  thoughts.  Ahura-Mazda  was 
"  the  pure,  the  master  of  purity,"  and  would  not  tolerate 
less  than  perfect  purity  in  his  votaries. 

The  industry  required  by  the  Zoroastrian  religion  was 
of  a  peculiar  kind.  Man  was  placed  upon  the  earth  to  pre- 
serve Ahura-Mazda's  'k  good  creation  ; "  and  this  could  only 
be  done  by  careful  tilling  of  the  soil,  eradication  of  thorns 
and  weeds,  and  reclamation  of  the  tracts  over  which  Angro- 
Mainyus  had  spread  the  curse  of  barrenness.  To  cultivate 
the  soil  was  thus  a  religious  duty  :  \  the  whole  community 
was  required  to  be  agricultural  ;  and  either  as  proprietor, 
as  farmer,  or  as  laboring  man,  each  Zoroastrian  was  bound 
to  "  further  the  works  of  life  "  by  advancing  tillage. 

The  duty  of  veracity  was  inculcated  perhaps  more 
strenuously  than  any  other.  "  The  Persian  youth  are 
taught,"  says  IIerodotus,§  "  three  things,  and  three  things 
only  :  to  ride,  to  draw  the  bow,  and  to  speak  the  truth." 
Ahura-Mazda  was  the  "  true  spirit," ||  and  the  chief  of  the 
Amesha-Spentas  was  Asha-vahistn,  "  the  best  truth.'11  Dni  j, 
"  falsehood,"  is  held  up  to  detestation,  alike  in  the  Zendn- 
vesta  and  in  the  Persian  cuneiform  inscriptions,  1[  as  the 

*  "  Yasiia,"  xliv.  18.  Compare  Xen.  "  Cyrop,"  viii.  3,  §  24:  uud 
Ovid.  •'  Fasti."  i.  ;>8.">. 

t  "  Vendidad."  Farg.  8-11,  and  16,  17. 

t  "  Yasna."  xxxiii.  :». 

§  Herod,  i.  130. 

!l  4i  Yasna,"  xxxv.  .**. 

U  Sir  H  Rawlinson,  "  Cuneiform  Inscriptions,"  vol.  i.  pp.200, 
944,  245,  etc-. 


74     THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

basest,  the  most  contemptible,  and  the  most  pernicious  of 
vices. 

If  it  be  asked  what  opinions  were  entertained  by  the  Zoro- 
astrians  concerning  man's  ultimate  destiny,  the  answer  would 
seem  to  be,  that  they  were  devout  and  earnest  believers  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  a  conscious  future  existence. 
It  was  taught  that  immediately  after  death  the  souls  of 
men,  both  good  and  bad,  proceeded  together  along  an  ap- 
pointed path  to  the  "  bridge  of  the  gatherer."  There  was  a 
narrow  road  conducting  to  heaven,  or  paradise,  over  which 
the  souls  of  the  good  alone  could  pass,  while  the  wicked 
fell  from  it  into  the  gulf  below,  where  they  found  them- 
selves in  the  place  of  punishment.  The  pious  soul  was  as- 
sisted across  the  bridge  by  the  angel  Serosh,  "  the  happy, 
well-formed,  swift,  tall,  Serosh,"  who  went  out  to  meet  the 
weary  wayfarer,  and  sustained  his  steps  as  he  effected  the 
difficult  passage.  The  prayers  of  his  friends  in  this  world 
much  availed  the  deceased,  and  helped  him  forward  greatly 
on  his  journey.  As  he  entered  the  angel  Vohu-mano  rose 
from  his  throne,  and  greeted  him  with  the  words — "  How 
happy  art  thou,  who  hast  come  here  to  us,  exchanging 
mortality  for  Immortality!  "  Then  the  good  soul  went  joy- 
fully onward  to  the  golden  throne,  to  paradise.  As  for  the 
wicked,  when  they  fell  into  the  gulf,  they  found  themselves 
in  outer  darkness,  in  the  kingdom  of  Angro-Mainyus,  where 
they  were  forced  to  remain  in  a  sad  and  wretched  con- 
dition.* 

It  has  been  maintained  by  some  that  the  early  Iranians 
also  held  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  f 
Such  a  doctrine  is  certainly  contained  in  the  more  recent 
portions  of  the  Zendavesta  ;  and  it  is  argued  that  there  are 
expressions  in  the  more  ancient  parts  of  that  work  which 
imply  it,  if  they  do  not  actually  assert  it.  But  a  careful 
examination  of  the  passages  adduced  makes  it  evident,  that 
no  more  is  in  reality  asserted  in  them  than  the  continued 
existence  of  the  soul  ;  and  Spiegel  comes  to  the  conclusion 
that,  even  so  late  as  the  time  when  the  "  Vendidad  "  was 
written,  "  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  not  yet  known 
to  the  Parsees,"  J  or  Persians. 

The  original  religion  of  the  Iranians  was  Dualism  of  a 

*  "Vendidad,"  xix.  :}0-.°>2;  Hang,  "  Essays,"  p.  166. 

t  Hang,  "Essays."  p.  2tM$. 

J  Spiegel,  "  A  vesta."  vol.  ii.  p.  248,  249. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        75 

very  pronounced  type,  assigning,  as  it  did,  to  Angro-Mainyus 
complete  independence  of  Ahura-Mazda,  and  equal  eternity 
ivith  him,  with  almost  equal  power.  It  verged  upon  poly- 
theism by  the  very  important  position  which  it  assigned  to 
certain  of  the  ahuras  or  angels,  whom  it  coupled  with  the 
Principle  of  Good  in  a  way  which  derogated  from  his 
supreme  and  unrivalled  dignity.*  In  its  morality  it  main- 
tained a  high  tone ;  but  it  imposed  on  its  followers  a  bur- 
densome yoke  of  ceremonial  observances.  It  taught  a 
future  life,  with  happiness  for  the  good  and  misery  for  the 
wicked  ;  but  unfortunately  inclined  to  identify  goodness 
with  orthodoxy,  and  wickedness  with  a  rejection  of  the 
doctrine  of  Zoroaster. 

It  may  help  the  reader  to  understand  the  inner  spirit  of 
the  religion,  if  we  give  one  or  two  specimens  of  the  hymns 
which  constituted  so  important  a  part  of  the  Zoroastrian 
worship.  The  following  is  one  of  the  Gathas,  and  is  by 
some  assigned  to  Zoroaster  himself  f  : — 

"  Now  will  I  speak  and  proclaim  to  all  who  have  come  to  listen 

Thy  praise,  Ahura-Mazda,  and  thine,  O  Vohu-mano. 

Asha!  I  ask  that  thy  grace  may  appear  in  the  lights  of  heaven. 

Hear  with  your  ears  what  is  best,  perceive  with  your  minds  what  is 

purest. 

So  that  each  man  for  himself  may,  hefore  the  great  doom  cometh, 
Choose  the  creed  he  prefers.     May  the  wise  ones  be  on  our  side. 

These  two  Spirits  are  twins;  they  made  known  in  times  that  are 

bygone 

That  good  and  evil,  in  thought,  and  word,  and  action. 
Rightly  decided  between  them  the  good;  not  so  the  evil. 

When  these  Two  came  together,  first  of  all  they  created 
Life  and  death,  that  at  last  there  might  be  for  such  as  are  evil 
Wretchedness,  but  for  the  good  a  happy  blest  existence. 

Of  these  Two  the  One  who  was  evil  chose  what  was  evil; 

He    who   was    kind    and    good,   whose    robe    was   the  changeless 

Heaven, 
Chose   what   was   right;   those,   too,  whose    works  pleased  Almra* 

Mazda. 


*  Pusey,  "  Lectures  on  Daniel,"  p.  535,  note  9. 

t  Hiibschtnann,  "Ein  Zoroastrisches  Lie  d.  mil  Riicksicht  auf  die 
Tradition,  ubersetzt  und  erklart."  Miinchen,  1872.  Compare  Max 
Miiller,  "Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Religion,"  pp.  237-239. 


76     THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

They  could  not  rightly    discern  who  erred   and  worshipped  the 

Ijevas : 

They  the  Bad  Spirit  chose,  and,  having  held  counsel  together. 
Turned  to  Rapine,  that  so  they  might  make  man's  life  an  affliction. 

But  to  the  good  came  might;  and  with  might  came  wisdom  and 

viitue; 

Annaiti  herself,  the  Eternal,  gave  to  their  bodies 
Vigor;  e'en  thou  wert  enriched   by  the  gifts  that  she  scattered, 

O  Mazda. 

Mazda,  the  time  will  come  when  the  crimes  of  the  bad  shall  be 
punished; 

Then  shall  thy  power  be  displayed  in  fitly  rewarding  the  right- 
eous— 

Them  that  have  bound  and  delivered  up  falsehood  to  Asha  the 
Truth-God. 

Let  us  then  be  of  those  who  advance  this  world  and  improve  it, 
O  Ahura-Mazda,  O  Truth-God  bliss  conferring! 
Let  our  minds  be  ever  there  where  wisdom  abideth! 

Then  indeed  shall  be  seen  the  fall  of  pernicious  falsehood; 
But  in  the  house  where  dwell  Vohu-mano,  Mazda,  and  Asha — 
Beautiful  house — shall  be  gathered  forever  such  as  are  worthy. 

O  men,  if  you  but  cling  to  the  precepts  Mazda  has  given, 
Precepts,  which  to  the  bad  are  a  torment,  but  joy  to  the  righteous, 
Then  shall  you  one  day  find  yourselves  victorious  through  them." 

Our  other  specimen  is  taken  from  the  "  Yasna,"  or  "Book 
on  Sacrifice."  and  is  probably  some  centuries  later  than  the 
great  bulk  of  the  Gdthas*  :— 

"  We  worship  Ahura-Madza,  the  pure,  the  master  of  purity: 
We  worship  the  Amesha-Spehtas,  possessors  and  givers  of  bless- 
ings: 

We  worship  the  whole  creation  of  Him  who  is  True,  the  heavenly. 

With  the  terrestrial,  all  that  supports  the  good  creation. 

All  that  favors  the  spread  of  the  good  Mazd-Yasnat  religion. 

"\Ve  praise  whatever  is  good  in  thought,  in  word,  or  in  action, 
Pastor  future;  we  also  keep  clean  whatever  is  excellent. 

O  Ahura-mazda,  thou  true  and  happy  being! 


•  Haug,  "  Essays,"  pp.  162,  163. 

t  "  Mazd-yasna"  means  "  Ahura-mazda  worshipping."    Mazdisn 
was  used  commonly  to  designate  the  orthodox,  under  the  Sassanians, 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        77 

We  strive  both  to  think,  and  to  speak,  and  to  do  whatever  is  fittest 
Both  our  lives  *  to  preserve,  and  bring  them  both  to  perfection. 

Holy  Spirit  of  Earth,  for  our  best  works't  sake,  we  entreat  thee, 
Grant  us  beautiful  fertile  fields — aye,  grant  them  to  all  men, 
Believers    and    unbelievers,     the    wealthy    and    those    that   have 
nothing." 

The  religion  of  the  early  Iranians  became  corrupted  after 
a  time  by  an  admixture  of  foreign  superstitions.  The  fol- 
lowers of  Zoroaster,  as  they  spread  themselves  from  their 
original  seat  upon  the  Oxus  over  the  regions  lying  south 


FIRE    ALTARS. 

and  south-west  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  were  brought  into  con« 
tact  with  a  form  of  faith  considerably  different  from  that 
to  which  they  had  previously  been  attacked,  yet  well 
adapted  for  blending  with  it.  This  was  Magism,  or  the 
worship  of  the  elements.  The  early  inhabitants  of  Armenia, 
Cappadocia,  and  the  Zagros  mountain-range,  had,  under 
circumstances  that  are  unknown  to  us,  developed  this  form 

*  The  two  lives  are  "the  life  of  the  soul  "  and  "  the  life  of  the 
body"     (Hang,  "Essays,"  i.  s.  c.). 

t  ».  e.  "our  agricultural  labors  "  (ibid.). 


78      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

of  religion,  and  had  associated  with  its  tenets,  a  priest-caste 
claiming  prophetic  powers,  and  a  highly  sacerdotal  character. 
The  essentials  of  the  religion  were  these  :  the  four  ele- 
ments, fire,  air,  earth,  and  water,  were  recognized  as  the 
only  proper  objects  of  human  reverence.  Personal  gods, 
and  together  with  them  temples,  shrines,  and  images,  were 
rejected.  The  devotion  of  the  worshippers  was  paid,  not 
to  any  powers  presiding  over  the  constituent  parts  of  nature, 
but  to  those  constituent  parts  themselves.  Fire,  as  the 
most  subtle  and  ethereal  principle,  and  again  as  the  most 
powerful  agent,  attracted  especial  regard ;  and  on  the  fire- 
altars  of  the  Magians  the  sacred  flame,  generally  regarded  as 
kindled  from  heaven,  was  kept  uninterruptedly  burning 
from  year  to  year,  and  from  age  to  age,  by  bands  of  priests, 
whose  special  duty  it  was  to  see  that  the  sacred  spark  was 
never  extinguished.  To  defile  the  altar  by  blowing  the 
flame  with  one's  breath  was  a  capital  offence,  and  to  burn  a 
corpse  was  regarded  as  equally  odious.  When  victims  were 
offered,  nothing  but  a  small  portion  of  the  fat  was  consumed 
in  the  flames.  Next  to  fire,  water  was  reverenced.  Sacrifice 
was  offered  to  rivers,  lakes,  and  fountains,  the  victim  being 
brought  near  to  them  and  then  slain,  while  the  utmost  care 
was  taken  that  no  drop  of  their  blood  should  touch  the 
water  and  pollute  it.  No  refuse  was  allowed  to  be  cast 
into  a  river,  nor  was  it  even  lawful  to  wash  one's  hands  in 
one.  Reverence  for  earth  was  shown  by  sacrifice  and  by 
abstention  from  the  usual  mode  of  burying  the  dead.  * 

The  Magian  priest-caste  held  an  exalted  position.  No 
worshipper  could  perform  any  rite  of  the  religion  unless  by 
the  intervention  of  a  priest,  who  stood  between  him  and 
the  Deity  as  a  mediator,  f  The  Magus  prepared  the  victim 
and  slew  it,  chanted  the  mystic  strain  which  gave  the  sacri- 
fice all  its  force,  poured  on  the  ground  the  propitiatory 
libation  of  oil,  milk,  and  honey,  and  held  the  bundle  of  thin 
tamarisk  twigs,  the  barsom  (baresma)  of  the  later  Zend 
books,  the  employment  of  which  was  essential  to  every 
sacrificial  ceremony.  \  Claiming  supernatural  powers,  they 
explained  omens,  expounded  dreams,  and  by  means  of  a 
certain  mysterious  manipulation  of  the  barsom,  or  bundle 

*  The  chief  authorities  for  this  description  are  Herodotus  (1.  132), 
Straho  (xv.  :•},  §  §  18,  14),  and  Agathias  (ii.  24). 
t  Herod.  J.  s.  c. ;  Amm.  Marc,  xxiil.  6. 
t  Strabo,  1.  s.  c. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       79 

of  tamarisk-twigs,  t  arrived  at  a  knowledge  of  future  events, 
which  they  would  sometimes  condescend  to  communicate 
to  the  pious  inquirer. 

With  such  pretensions   it  was  natural  that  the   caste 


MAGI  AN  PRIEST. 

should  assume  a  lofty  air,  a  stately  dress,  and  an  environ, 
merit  of  ceremonial  magnificence.  Clad  in  white  robes, 
and  bearing  upon  their  heads  tall  felt  caps,  with  long  lap- 
pets at  the  sides,  which  (we  are  told  §)  concealed  the  jaw 
and  even  the  lips,  each  with  his  barsom  in  his  hand,  they 
marched  in  procession  to  the  fire-altars,  and  standing  round 
them  performed  for  an  hour  at  a  time  their  magical  incan- 
tations. The  credulous  multitude,  impressed  by  sights  of 
this  kind,  and  imposed  on  by  the  claims  to  supernatural 

«  Dino,  Fr.  8;  Schol.  ad.  Xic.  Ther.  613. 

t  Strabo,  xv.  3,  §  15;  Diog.  Laert.  "Proem." 


80      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

powers  which  the  Magi  put  forward,  paid  them  a  willing 
homage  ;  the  kings  and  chiefs  consulted  them  ;  and  when 
the  Iranians,  pressing  westward,  came  into  contact  with 
the  races  professing  the  Magi  an  religion,  they  found  the 
Magian  priest-caste  all-powerful  in  most  of  the  western 
nations. 

Originally  Zoroastrianism  had  been  intolerant  and  ex- 
clusive. Its  first  professors  had  looked  with  averson  and  con- 
tempt on  the  creed  of  their  Indian  brethren ;  they  had  been 
fierce  opponents  of  idolatry,  and  absolutely  hostile  to  every 
form  of  religion  except  that  which  they  had  themselves  work- 
ed out.  But  with  the  lapse  of  time  these  feelings  had  grown 
weaker.  The  old  religious  fervor  had  abated.  An  impressible 
and  imitative  spirit  had  developed  itself.  When  the  Zoroas- 
trians  came  into  contact  with  Magism,  it  impressed  them 
favorably.  There  was  no  contradiction  between  its  main 
tenets  and  those  of  their  old  religion;  they  were  com- 
patible, and  might  readily  be  held  together;  and  the  result 
was,  that,  without  giving  up  any  part  of  their  previous 
creed,  the  Iranians  adopted  and  added  on  to  it  all  the  prin- 
cipal points  of  the  Magian  belief,  and  all  the  more  remark- 
able of  the  Magian  religious  usages.  This  religious  fusion 
seems  first  to  have  taken  place  in  Media.  The  Magi  be- 
came a  Median  tribe,*  and  were  adopted  as  the  priest-caste 
of  the  Median  nation.  Elemental  worship,  divination  by 
means  of  the  barsom,  dream-expounding,  incantations  at  the 
fire-altars,  sacrifices  whereat  a  Magus  officiated,  were  added 
on  to  the  old  dualism  and  qualified  worship  of  the  Amesha- 
Spentas,  of  Mithra,  and  of  the  other  ahuras;  and  a  mixed 
or  mongrel  religion  was  thus  formed,  which  long  struggled 
with,  and  ultimately  prevailed  over,  pure  Zoroastrianism.f 
The  Persians  after  a  time  came  into  this  belief,  accepted 
the  Magi  for  their  priests,  and  attended  the  ceremonies  at 
the  fire-altars. 

The  adoption  of  elemental  worship  into  the  Iranian 
system  produced  a  curious  practice  with  regard  to  dead 
bodies.  It  became  unlawful  to  burn  them,  since  that  would 
be  a  pollution  of  fire;  or  to  bury  them,  thereby  polluting 
enrth ;  or  to  throw  them  into  a  river,  thereby  polluting 

*  Herod,  i.  101. 

t  See  Westergaard's  "  Introduction  to  the  Zendavesta,"  p.  17;  and 
compare  the  Author's  "  Essay  on  the  Religion  of  the  Ancient 
Persians"  in  his  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.  pp.  414-419,  3rd  edition. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        81 

water;  or  even  to  place  them  in  a  sepulchral  chamber, 
or  a  sarcophagus,  since  that  would  cause  a  pollution 
of  air.  What,  then,  was  to  be  clone  with  them?  In 
what  way  were  they  to  be  disposed  of  ?  Some  races  of 
men,  probably  moved  by  these  scruples,  adopted  the 
practice,  which  they  regarded  as  eminently  pious,  of 
killing  those  who,  they  suspected,  were  about  to  die,  and 
then  eating  them.*  But  the  Iranians  had  reached  that 
stage  of  civilization  when  cannibalism  is  held  to  be  disgust- 
ing. Disinclined  to  devour  their  dead  themselves,  they  hit 
on  an  expedient  which,  without  requiring  them  to  do  what 
they  so  much  disliked,  had  the  same  result — transferred, 
that  is,  the  bodies  of  their  departed  friends  into  those  of 
other  living  organisms,  and  so  avoided  the  pollution  of  any 
element  by  their  decaying  remains.  Immediately  after 
death  they  removed  the  bodies  to  a  solitary  place,  and  left 
them  to  be  devoured  by  beasts  and  birds  of  prey,  crows, 
ravens,  vultures,  wolves,  jackals,  and  foxes.  This  was  the 
orthodox  practice,  f  was  employed  by  the  Magi  themselves 
in  the  case  of  their  own  dead,  and  was  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  others  ;  §  but  as  it  was  found  that,  despite  all 
exhortations,  there  were  some  whose  prejudices  would  not 
allow  them  to  adopt  this  method,  another  had  to  be  devised 
and  allowed,  though  not  recommended.  This  was  the 
coating  of  the  dead  body  with  wax  previously  to  its  deposi- 
tion in  the  ground. ||  Direct  contact  between  the  corpse 
and  the  earth  being  in  this  way  prevented,  pollution  was 
supposed  to  be  avoided. 

The  mixed  religion  thus  constituted,  though  less  elevated 
and  less  pure  than  the  original  Zoroastrian  creed,  must  be 
pronounced  to  have  possessed  a  certain  loftiness  and  pic- 
turesqueness  which  suited  it  to  become  the  religion  of  a 
great  and  splendid  monarchy.  The  mysterious  fire-altars 
upon  the  mountain-tops,  with  their  prestige  of  a  remote 
antiquity — the  ever-burning  flame  believed  to  have  been 
kindled  from  on  high — the  worship  in  the  open  air  under 
the  blue  canopy  of  heaven — the  long  troops  of  Magians  in 
their  white  robes,  with  their  strange  caps,  and  their  mystic 
vands — the  frequent  prayers,  the  abundant  sacrifices,  the 

•Herod,  i.  216;  iit.  99. 

t  Strabo,  xv.  3,  §  20.    Compare  Herod.  1.  140. 

J  "  Vendidad,"  Farg.  v.  to  viii. 

§  Herod.  1.  s.  c. ;  Strabo,  1.  s.  c. 


82     THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  IRANIANS. 

low  incantations — the  supposed  prophetic  powers  of  the 
priest-caste — all  this  together  constituted  an  imposing 
whole  at  once  to  the  eye  and  to  the  mind,  and  was  calcu- 
lated to  give  additional  grandeur  to  the  civil  system  that 
ehould  be  allied  with  it.  Pure  Zoroastrianism  was  too 
spiritual  to  coalesce  readily  with  Oriental  luxury  and  mag- 
nificence, or  to  lend  strength  to  a  government  based  on 
the  principles  of  Asiatic  despotism.  Magism  furnished  a 
hierarchy  to  support  the  throne  and  add  splendor  and  dig- 
nity to  the  court  while  it  overawed  the  subject  class  by 
its  supposed  possession  of  supernatural  powers  and  of  the 
right  of  mediating  between  man  and  God.  It  supplied  a 
picturesque  worship,  which  at  once  gratified  the  senses  and 
excited  the  fancy.  It  gave  scope  to  man's  passion  for  the 
marvellous  by  its  incantations,  its  divining-rods,  its  omen- 
reading,  and  its  dream-expounding.  It  gratified  the  relig- 
ious scrupulosity  which  finds  a  pleasure  in  making  to  itself 
difficulties,  by  the  disallowance  of  a  thousand  natural  acts, 
and  the  imposition  of  numberless  rules  for  external  purity. 
At  the  same  time  it  gave  no  offence  to  the  anti-idolatrous 
spirit  in  which  the  Iranians  had  always  gloried,  but  upheld 
and  encouraged  the  iconoclasm  which  they  had  previously 
practiced.  It  thus  blended  easily  with  the  previous  creed 
of  the  Iranian  people,  and  produced  an  amalgam  that  has 
shown  a  surprising  vitality,  having  lasted  above  two  thou- 
sand years — from  the  time  of  Xerxes,  the  son  of  Darius 
Hystaspis  (u.  c.  485-465)  to  the  present  day. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       83 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE    RELIGION'    OF    THE    EARLY    SAXSKRITIC    IXDIAXS. 

**  Le  panthe'isnie  naturaliste  et  le  polytheisme,  sa  consqe'uence 
inevitable,  s'etaient  graduellement  iutrocluits  dans  les  cioyances  des 
Aryas." — LEXORMANT,  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,  vol.  iii.  p.  309. 

THE  religion  of  the  early  Indians,  like  that  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  like  that  of  Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  was 
an  extensive  polytheism,  but  a  polytheism  of  a  very  peculiar 
character.  There  lay  behind  it,  at  its  first  formation,  no 
conscious  monotheism,  no  conception  of  a  single  supreme 
power,  from  whom  man  and  nature,  and  all  the  forces  in 
nature,  have  their  origin.  If  we  hold,  as  I  believe  we  do 
right  to  hold,  that  God  revealed  Himself  to  the  first  parents 
of  the  human  race  as  a  single  personal  being,  and  so  that 
all  races  of  men  had  at  the  first  this  idea  as  an  inheritance 
handed  down  to  them  traditionally  from  their  ancestors, 
yet  it  would  seem  certain  that  in  India,  before  the  religion 
which  we  find  in  the  Vedas  arose,  this  belief  had  completely 
faded  away  and  disappeared ;  the  notion  of  "  God "  had 
passed  into  the  notion  of  "gods;"  a  real  polytheism  uni- 
versally prevailed,  even  with  the  highest  class  of  intellects  ;* 
and  when,  in  the  course  of  time,  monotheistic  ideas  showed 
themselves,  they  sprang  up  in  individual  minds  as  the  re- 
sults of  individual  specufation,t  and  were  uttered  tentatively, 
not  as  doctrines,  but  as  hypotheses,  as  timid  "  guesses  at 
truth,"  on  the  part  of  those"  who  confessed  that  they  knew 
little  or  nothing. 

If  it  be  asked  how  this  forgetfulness  came  about,  how 
the  idea  of  one  God,  once  possessed,  could  ever  be  lost, 

»  See  Max  Miiller,  "Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,"  pp.  528,  52ft 
t/&id.p.  559. 


84   SELIGIOX  OF  THE  EAliLY  SANSKUITIC  INDIANS. 

perhaps  we  may  find  an  answer  in  that  fact  to  which  the 
traditions  of  the  race  and  some  of  their  peculiar  expres- 
sions *  point  back,  that  for  many  centuries  they  had  been 
located  in  one  of  the  crudest  regions  of  the  earth,  a  region 
with  "  ten  months  of  winter  and  two  months  of  summer,"  f 
where  the  struggle  for  existence  must  have  been  terrible 
indeed,  and  all  their  energies,  all  their  time,  all  their 
thought,  must  have  been  spent  on  the  satisfaction  of  those 
physical  needs  for  which  provision  must  be  made  before 
man  can  occupy  himself  with  the  riddle  of  the  universe. 
At  any  rate,  however  we  may  account  for  it,  or  whether  we 
can  account  for  it  or  no,  the  fact  remains ;  somehow  or 
other  the  Sanskritic  Indians  had  ceased  to  "  retain  God  in 
their  knowledge  ; "  t  they  were  for  a  time  "  without  God 
in  the  world,"  they  had  lost  the  senses  of  His  "  eternal 
power  and  Godhead  ;  "  §  they  were  in  the  condition  that 
men  would  be  in  who  should  be  veritable  "  children  of  the 
soil,"  springing  into  life  without  inheritance  of  ancestral 
notions. 

But  there  was  one  thing  which  they  could  not  be  with- 
out. God  has  implanted  in  all  men  a  religious  faculty,  a 
religious  instinct,  which  is  an  essential  portion  of  their 
nature  and  among  the  faculties  which  most  distinguish  man 
from  the  brutes.  No  sooner  was  the  tension  produced  by 
the  severe  character  of  their  surroundings  relaxed — no 
sooner  did  the  plains  of  the  Punjab  receive  the  previous 
dwellers  in  the  Hindu  Rush — than  this  instinct  asserted  it- 
self, perceived  that  there  was  something  divine  in  the 
world,  and  proceeded  to  the  manufacture  of  deities.  Nature 
seemed  to  the  Hindoo  not  to  be  one,  but  many ;  and  all 
nature  seemed  to  be  wonderful  and,  so,  divine.  The  sky, 
the  air,  the  dawn,  the  sun,  the  earth,  the  moon,  the  wind, 
the  storms,  fire,  the  waters,  the  rivers,  attracted  his  atten- 
tion, charmed  him,  sometimes  terrified  him,  seemed  to  him 
instinct  with  power  and  life,  became  to  him  objects  of 
admiration  and  then  of  worship.  At  first,  it  would  appear, 

*  As  the  expression,  "  a  hundred  winters,"  used  for  a  hundred 
years.  (See  H  II.  Wilson's  "  Introduction  to  the  Rig- Veda,"  vol.  i. 
p.  xlii.) 

t  See  the  description  of  "  Aryanem  vaejo  " — the  old  home  of  the 
Aryans— in  the  Frst  Fargard  of  the  "  Vendidad  "  ("  Ancient  Monar- 
chies," vol.  ii.  p.  119). 

J  Romans  i.  28.  §  Ibid.,  i.  20. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      8!i 

the  objects  themselves  were  adored  ;  but  the  objects  re. 
ceived  names  ;  the  names  were,  by  the  laws  of  Indian 
grammar,  masculine  or  feminine ;  and  the  named  objects 
thus  passed  into  persons,  *  the  nomina  became  numina, 
beings  quite  distinct  from  the  objects  themselves,  presiding 
over  them,  directing  them,  ruling  them,  but  having  a  sepa- 
rate and  another  kind  of  existence. 

And  now  the  polytheism,  already  sufficiently  extensive 
through  the  multiplicity  of  things  natural,  took  a  fresh 
start.  The  names,  having  become  persons,  tended  to  float 
away  from  the  objects ;  and  the  objects  received  fresh 
names,  which  in  their  turn  were  exalted  into  gods,  and  so 
swelled  the  pantheon.  When  first  the  idea  of  counting  the 
gods  presented  itself  to  the  mind  of  a  Vedic  poet,  and  he 
subjected  them  to  a  formal  census,  he  found  them  to  amount 
to  no  more  than  thirty-three. f  But  in  course  of  time  this 
small  band  swelled  into  a  multitude,  and  Visvamitra,  a 
somewhat  late  poet,  states  the  number  at  3,3394 

One  of  the  features  most  clearly  pronounced  in  the 
Vedic  polytheism  is  that  which  has  been  already  noticed  as 
obtaining  to  a  considerable  extent  both  in  the  Egyptian 
and  Assyrian  religions, §  the  feature  which  has  been  called 
"  Kathenotheism "  or  "  Henotheism."  §  A  Vedic  wor- 
shipper, for  the  most  part,  when  he  turned  his  regards 
towards  any  individual  deity,  forgot  for  the  time  being  that 
there  was  any  other,  and  addressed  the  immediate  object  of 
his  adoration  in  terms  of  as  absolute  devotion  as  if  he  were 
the  sole  God  whom  he  recognized,  the  one  and  only  Divine 
Being  in  the  entire  universe.  "In  the  first  hymn  of  the 
second  Mandala,  the  god  Agni  is  called  'the  ruler  of  the 
universe,'  '  the  lord  of  men,'  '  the  wise  king,  the  father,  the 
brother,  the  son,  the  friend  of  man  ; '  nay,  all  the  powers 
and  names  of  the  other  gods  are  distinctly  assigned  to 
Agni."  ||  Similarly,  in  another  hymn,  Varuna  is  "  '  the  wise 
god,'  the  '  lord  of  all,'  'the  lord  of  heaven  and  earth,'  '  the 

*  Max  MUllcr,  "Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Religion,"  pp.  54-56. 

t  Rig-Veda,  viii.  30.  (See  Max  Miiller's  "Ancient  Sanskrit 
Literature,"  p.  531.) 

}  "  Rig-Veda  Sauhita"  ( translation  of  H.  H.  Wilson),  vol.iii.  p.  7. 

§  See  above  pp.  40  and  56. 

H  Max  Miiller,  "Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,"  voL  i.  p.  28: 
"Science  of  Religion,"  p.  141. 

T  "  Chips,"  1.  s.  c. 


86    RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SANSKRIT1C  INDIANS. 

upholder  of  order,'  '  he  who  gives  to  men  glory.'  *  It  is 
the  same  with  Indra — he  is  '  the  ruler  of  all  that  moves,' 
the  '  mighty  one,' '  he  to  whom  there  is  none  like  in  heaven 
or  earth  : ' "  t  "  the  gods,"  it  is  said,  "  do  not  reach  thee, 
Indra,  nor  men  ;  thou  overcomest  all  creatures  in  strength." 
The  best  authority  tells  us  that  "  it  would  be  easy  to  find, 
in  the  numerous  hymns  of  the  Veda,  passages  in  which 
almost  every  important  deity  is  represented  as  supreme  and 
absolute."^  At  the  same  time  there  is  no  rivalry,  no  com- 
parison of  one  god  with  another,  no  conflict  of  opinion 
between  the  votaries  of  different  deities ;  each  is  supreme 
and  absolute  in  hi§  turn,  simply  because  "  all  the  rest  dis- 
appear for  a  moment  from  the  vision  of  the  poet,  and  he 
only  who  is  to  fulfil  their  desires  stands  in  full  light  before 
the  eyes  of  the  worshippers."  § 

Among  the  various  deities  thus,  in  a  certain  sense, 
equalized,  there  are  three  who  may  be  said  to  occupy,  if 
not  the  chief,  at  any  rate  the  oldest  place,  since  their 
names  have  passed  out  of  the  sphere  of  mere  appellative, 
and  have  become  proper  names,  the  designations  of  distinct 
persons.  These  are  Varuna,  Mitra,  and  Indra — originally, 
the  Sky,  the  Sun,  and  the  Storrn  (or,  perhaps,  the  Day) — 
but,  in  the  Vedic  hymns,  only  slightly  connected  with  any 
particular  aspects  of  nature,  and  not  marked  off  by  any 
strong  differences  the  one  from  the  other.  Indra,  indeed, 
is  the  main  object  of  adoration  ;  more  than  one-third  of  the 
hymns  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  Rig-Veda  are  addressed  to 
him. ||  He  is  "the  sovereign  of  the  world,"  "the  all-wise," 
"  the  abode  of  truth,"  "  the  lord  of  the  good,"  "  the  anima- 
tor of  all,"  "  the  showerer  of  benefits,"  "  the  fulfiller  of  the 
desire  of  him  who  offers  praise  ;  "  H"  and,  with  more  or  less 
of  reference  to  his  original  character,  "  the  sender  of  rain," 
"the  giver  of  food,"  "the  lord  of  opulence,"  and  "the 
wielder  of  the  thunderbolt."  **  Varuna  is  more  sparingly 

*  "  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature."  pp.  536,  537. 

t  Ibid.  p.  540. 

J  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,"  p.  28. 

§  Ibid. 

ll  Forty-five  in  the  first  Astaka,  out  of  121;  39  in  the  second,  out 
of  118;  48  in  the  third,  out  of  121 ;  and  40  in  fourth,  out  of  140— alto- 
gether 178  out  of  502.  (See  the  "  Introduction  "  of  Prof.  H.  H.  Wil- 
son to  his  "  Translation  of  the  Rig- Veda  Sanhita.") 

t  Rig- Veda,  vol.  ii.  pp.  30,  145,  283;  vol.  iii.  pp.  157,  159,  and  10ft 
**  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  283;  vol  iii.  pp.  157  and  100. 


THK  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        87 

addressed ;  but,  when  addressed,  is  put  quite  upon  a  par 
with  Indra,  joined  with  him  in  such  phrases  as  "sovereign 
Indra  and  Varuna,"  "  Indra  and  Varuna,  sovereign  rulers," 
"  divine  Indra  and  Varuna,"  "  mighty  Indra  and  Varuna,"* 
etc.,  and  entreated  to  afford  the  worshipper,  equally  with 
Indra,  protection,  long  life,  riches,  sons  and  grandsons, 
happiness.  Mitra  is  the  usual  companion  of  Varuna,  shar- 
ing with  him  in  the  fifth  Mandala  eleven  consecutive 
hymns,f  and  elsewhere  joined  with  him  frequently  ;$  they 
are  "  observers  of  truth,"  "  imperial  rulers  of  the  world," 
u  lords  of  heaven  and  truth,"  "  protectors  of  the  universe," 
"  mighty  deities,"  "  far-seeing,"  "  excelling  in  radiance ;  "§ 
they  "  uphold  the  three  realms  of  light,"  "  scatter  foes," 
"  guide  men  in  the  right  way,"  "  send  rain  from  heaven," 
"  grant  men  their  desires,"  ||  "procure  for  them  exceeding 
and  perfect  felicity."1T  They  ride  together  in  one  chariot, 
which  "  shines  in  the  firmament  like  lightning ;  "**  they 
sustain  the  sun  in  his  course,  and  conjointly  cause  the  rain 
to  fall;  they  are  "possessed  of  irresistible  strength,"!!  «ind 
uphold  the  celestial  and  terrestrial  worlds."!!  It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  Mitra  was  once  the  sun,  as  Mithra 
always  was  in  Persia  ;  §§  but  in  the  hymns  of  the  Rig-Veda 
he  has  passed  out  of  that  subordinate  position,  and  has  become 
a  god  who  sustains  the  sun,  and  who  has  a  general  power 
over  the  elements.  His  place  as  the  actual  sun-god  has 
been  taken  by  another  and  distinct  deity,  of  whom  more 
will  be  said  presently. 

Next  to  these  three  gods,  whose  character  is  rather 
general  than  special,  must  be  placed  Agni — the  Latin  ignis 
— who  was  distinctly  the  god  of  fire.  Fire  presented  itself 
to  the  early  Indians  under  a  twofold  aspect ;  ||  ||  first,  as  it 
exists  on  earth,  on  the  hearth,  on  the  altar,  and  in  the  con- 

*  "  Rig  Veda,"  vol.  \.  p.  40;  vol.  ill.  pp.  63,  201,  203,  etc. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  ill.  pp.  347-357. 

J  As  in  vol.  i.  pp.  7,  117,  and  230;  vol.  ii.  pp.  3-6,  5:3-55, 
59.  etc. 

§  Wilson's  "  Introduction,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  349-354. 

II  Wilson's  "  Introduction,"  vyl.  iii.  pp.  354-356. 

If  Ibid.  p.  349.  *«  Ibid.  p.  348. 

tt  Ibid.  pp.  353,  354.  .  tt  Ibid.  p.  356. 

§§  See  the  Author's  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.  p.  49;  vol.  ii. 
pp.421  and  423. 

!!ll  Wilson  says  "  a  three-fold  aspect"  (':  Introduction  to  Rig- Veda," 
vol.  i.  p.  xxvii.),  distinguishing  between  the  region  of  the  air  and 
that  of  the  sky;  but  ths'Vedic  poets  scarcely  make  this  distinction. 


gg    RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SAN8KRITIC  INDIANS. 

flagration  ;  secondly,  as  it  exists  in  the  sky,  in  the  shape  of 
lightning,  meteors,  stars,  comets,  and  light  generally,  so  far 
as  that  is  independent  of  the  sun.  The  earthly  aspect  of 
fire  is  most  dwelt  upon.  The  Vedic  poet  sees  it  leaping 
forth  from  darkness  on  the  rapid  friction  of  two  sticks 
in  the  hands  of  a  strong  man.  It  is  greedy  for  food  as  it 
steps  forth  out  of  its  prison,  it  snorts  like  a  horse  as  with 
loud  crackle  it  seizes  and  spreads  among  the  fuel.  Then  for 
a  moment  its  path  is  darkened  by  great  folds  of  smoke ;  but 
it  overcomes,  it  triumphs,  and  mounts  up  in  a  brilliant 
column  of  pure  clear  flames  into  the  sky.  *  As  culinary 
fire,  Agni  is  the  supporter  of  life,  the  giver  of  strength  and 
vigor,  the  imparter  of  a  pleasant  flavor  to  food,  |  the  diffuser 
of  happiness  in  a  dwelling.  As  sacrificial  fire,  he  is  the 
messenger  between  the  other  gods  and  man  ;  the  interpreter 
to  the  other  gods  of  human  wants  ;  the  all-wise,  who  knows 
every  thought  of  the  worshipper  ;  the  bestower  of  all  bless- 
ings on  men,  since  it  is  by  his  intervention  alone  that  their 
Offerings  are  conveyed,  and  their  wishes  made  known  to  any 
deity.  As  conflagration,  Agni  is  "  the  consumer  of  forests, 
the  dark-pathed,  the  bright-shining."  t  "  White-hued, 
vociferous,  abiding  in  the  firmament  with  the  imperishable 
resounding  winds,  the  youngest  of  the  gods,  Agni,  purifying 
and  most  vast,  proceeds,  feeding  upon  numerous  and  sub- 
stantial forests.  His  bright  flames,  fanned  by  the  wind, 
spread  wide  in  every  direction,  consuming  abundant  fuel  ; 
divine,  fresh-rising,  they  play  upon  the  woods,  enveloping 
them  in  lustre."  §  Occasionally,  instead  of  consuming  forests, 
he  devours  cities  with  their  inhabitants.  When  the  Aryan 
Indians  prevail  over  their  enemies  and  give  their  dwellings 
to  the  flames,  it  is  Agni  who  "destroys  the  ancient  towns  of 
the  dispersed,"  ||  and  "  consumes  victorious  all  the  cities  of 
the  foe  and  their  precious  things."  1f  Hence,  he  is  constantly 
invoked  against  enemies,  and  exhorted  to  overthrow  them, 
to  give  their  cities  to  destruction,  to  "  burn  them  down  like 
pieces  of  dry  timber,"  ||  to  chastise  them  and  "  consume 
them  entirely."  In  his  celestial  character,  Agni,  on  the 

•  See  Max  Miiller,  "  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,"  p.  547,  note. 

t  Rig- Veda.  vol.  iii.  pp.  184,  247,  etc. 

t  Rig-Veda,  p.  891. 

§  Ibid.  vol.  iii.    Compare  pp.  136,  254,  385,  etc. 

I!  Ibid.  p.  388. 

H  Ibid.  p.  1«.  **  Ibid.  p.  120. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        89 

other  hand,  is,  comparatively  speaking,  but  rarely  recognized. 
JStill,  his  frequent  association  with  Indra  *  points  to  this 
aspect  of  him.  Both  he  and  Indra  are  "  wielders  of  the 
thunderbolt ; "  f  they  occupy  a  common  car ;  J  they  are 
joint  "slayers  of  Vitra ;  "  §  and  Agni  is  described  in  one 
place  as  "  the  agitator  of  the  clouds  when  the  rain  is  poured 
forth,"  he  who,  "  moving  with  the  swiftness  of  the  wind, 
shines  with  a  pure  radiance  ;  "  whose  "  falling  rays,  accom- 
panied by  the  moving  storms,  strike  against  the  cloud," 
which  thereupon  "roars,"  after  which  "the  shower  conies 
with  delightful  and  smiling  drops,  the  rain  descends,  the 
clouds  thunder."  || 

After  Agni  we  may  place  in  a  single  group,  Dyaus,  "the 
heaven ;  "  Suiya,  or  Savitri,  "  the  sun  ; "  Soina,  "  the  moon  ;  " 
Ushas,  "the  dawn  ;"  Prithivi,  "the  earth;"  Vavu,  "the 
wind  ;  "  Ay,  "  the  waters  ;  "  Nadi,  "the  rivers  ;  and  the 
Martus,  "  the  storms."  These  are  all  nature-gods  of  a  very 
plain  and  simple  kind,  corresponding  to  the  Greek  Uranus, 
Heelios,  Selene,  Eos,  Ge,  or  Gaia,  etc.,  and  to  the  Roman 
Ccelus,  Apollo,  Luna,  Aurora,  Tellus,  -^Eolus  etc.  Of  all  these 
the  Marus  are  the  most  favorite  objects  of  worship,  having 
twenty-four  hymns  devoted  to  them  in  the  first  six  Mandalas 
of  the  Rig-Veda. IF  Next  to  these  may  be  placed  Ushas, 
who  has  eleven  hymns  ;  then  Dyaus  and  Prithivi,  who  share 
seven  hymns ;  after  these  Surya,  who  has  six  ;  then  Vayu, 
who  has  two ;  then  Soma,  who  has  one ;  and  lastly,  Ap  and 
Nidi,  who  are  not  worshipped  separately  at  all.  Ushns,  the 
dawn,  is  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  creation  of  the  Vedic 
bards.  "  She  is  the  friend  of  men  ;  she  smiles  like  a  young 
wife  ;  she  is  the  daughter  of  the  sky.  She  goes  to  every 
house  ;  she  thinks  of  the  dwellings  of  men  ;  she  does  not 
despise  the  small  or  the  great  ;  she  brings  wealth  ;  she  is 
always  the  same,  immortal,  divine  ;  age  cannot  touch  her  ; 
she  is  the  young  goddess,  but  she  makes  men  grow  old."* 
Born  again  and  again,  and  with  bright  unchanging  hues, 

*  Mandala  i.  21,  108;  Mandala  iii.  12;  Mandala  v.  14:  Mandala  vL 
59:  etc. 

t  Rig-Voda,vol.  iii.  p.  500. 

t  Ibid.  p.  501. 

§  Ibid.  vol.  iii  pp.  Ill,  603,  etc. 

II  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  202. 

ISee  Wilson's  ''Introductions"   to  the  several  volumes  of  th« 
Rig-Veda  Sanhita,  vol.  i.  p.  15;  vol.  iii.  p.  7. 
**  Max  Miiller,  "Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,"  p.  561. 


90   RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SAXSKRITIC  INDIANS. 

she  dissipates  the  accumulated  glooms,  anoints  her  beauty 
as  the  priests  anoint  the  sacrificial  food  in  sacrifices,  bright- 
shining  she  smiles,  like  a  flatterer,  to  obtain  favor,  then 
lights  up  the  world,  spreads,  expanding  westward  with 
her  radiance,  awakes  men  to  consciousness,  calls  forth  the 
pleasant  sounds  of  bird  and  beast,  ai'ouses  all  things  that 
have  life  to  their  several  labors.*  Sometimes  a  mere 
natural  appearance,  more  often  a  manifest  goddess,  she 
comes  before  men  day  after  day  with  ever  young  and  fresh 
beauty,  challenging  their  admiration,  almost  forcing  them 
to  worship  her.  The  lazy  inhabitants  of  so-called  civilized 
lands,  who  rarely  leave  their  beds  till  the  sun  has  been  up 
for  hours,  can  scarcely  understand  the  sentiments  with  which 
a  simple  race,  that  went  to  rest  with  the  evening  twilight, 
awaited  each  morning  the  coming  of  the  rosy-fingered  dawn, 
or  the  ecstatic  joy  with  which  they  saw  the  darkness  in  the 
eastern  sky  fade  and  lift  before  the  soft  approach  of  some- 
thing  tenderer  and  lovelier  than  day. 

Surya,  "  the  sun,"  does  not  play  a  prominent  part  in  the 
Vcdic  poems. f  Out  of  the  five  hundred  hymns  in  Wilson's 
collection,  only  six  are  devoted  to  him  exclusively.!  His 
presentation  is  nearly  that  of  Heelios  in  the  Greek,  and 
Phoebus  Apollo  in  the  Roman  mythology.  Brilliant,  many- 
rayed,  adorable,  he  yokes  each  morning  his  two,  §  or  seven,  |j 
swift  coursers  to  his  car,  and  mounts  up  the  steep  incline 
of  heaven,  following  Ushas,  as  a  youth  pursues  a  maiden, 
and  destroying  her.H  Journeying  onward  at  incredible 
speed  **  between  the  two  regions  of  heaven  and  earth,  lie 

*  Rig- Veda,  vol.  i.  pp.  230-238  and  298.  299. 

t  Wilson,  "  Introduction  to  Rig-Veda,"  vol.  i.  p.  xxxii. 

!  Mandala  i.  Suktas  50  and  115;  Mandala  ii.  Sukta  38;  and 
Mandala  v.  Suktas  81  and  82.  Surya  has  also  a  part  in  Mandala  i. 
Sukta  35;  Mandala  v.  Suktas  40  and  45;  and  Mandala  vi.  Sukta  50. 

§  Rig- Veda,  vol.  i.  u.  98. 

II  Ibid.  p.  133. 

IT  Ibid.  p.  304.  Compare  Max  Miiller's  "  Ancient  Sanskrit  Liter- 
ature," pp.  529,  530,  where  the  following  comment  of  an  Indian 
critic  is  quoted:—"  It  is  fabled  that  Prajapati,  the  Lord  of  Creation, 
did  violence  to  hlfl  daughter.  But  what  does  it  mean?  Prajapati, 
the  Lord  of  Creation,  is  a  name  of  the  sun;  and  he  is  called  so 
because  he  protects  all  creatures.  His  daughter,  Ushas,  is  the  Dawn. 
And  when  it  is  said  that  he  was  in  love  with  her,  this  only  means 
that,  at  sunrise,  the  sun  runs  after  the  dawn,  the  dawn  being  at  the 
same  time  called  the  daughter  of  the  bun,  because  she  rises  when  he 
approaches." 
••  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  132. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        9J 

pours  down  his  quickening,  life-bestowing,  purifying  rays  on 
all,  dispels  diseases,*  gives  fertility,  and  multiplies  wealth. f 
Having  attained  the  summit  of  the  sky,  he  commences  his 
descent,  and  traveling  on  a  downward  path,  conducts  his  car 
with  safety  to  the  far  limits  of  the  west,  carrying  off  with 
him  all  the  diffused  rays  of  light,J  and  disappearing,  no  one 
knows  whither.! 

Vayu,  the  "wind,"  generally  coupled  with  Indra,  as  a 
god  of  heaven,  has  only  two  whole  hymns, ||  and  parts  of 
five  others,  devoted  to  him  in  Wilson's  collection.  What 
is  chiefly  celebrated  is  his  swiftness  ;  and  in  this  connection 
he  has  sometimes  ninety-nine,  sometimes  a  hundred,  IF  some- 
times a  thousand  steeds,**  or  even  a  thousand  chariots,ft 
assigned  to  him.  The  color  of  his  horses  is  red  or  purple. |J 
He  is  "swift  as  thought,"  he  has  "  a  thousand  eyes,"  and  is 
"  the  protector  of  pious  acts."§§  As  one  of  the  gods  who 
"sends  rain,"||  ||  he  is  invoked  frequently  by  the  inhabitants 
of  a  country  where  want  of  rain  is  equivalent  to  a  famine. 

Dyaus  and  Prithivi,  "  heaven  "  and  "  earth,"  are  mostly 
coupled  together,  and  addressed  in  the  same  hymns ;  but, 
besides  the  joint  addresses,  Prithivi  is  sometimes  the  sole 
subject  of  a  sacred  poern.lFIT  Dyaus  has  occasionally  the 
epithet  of  jritar,  or  "  father,"***  and  thus,  so  far  as  the  name 
goes,  undoubtedly  corresponds  with  the  Jupiter  or  Dies- 
piter  of  the  Romans.  But  he  is  cei-tainly  not  in  the  same 
way  the  "  father,"  or  creator,  of  the  other  gods.  Rather, 
some  individual  poets,  in  their  craving  after  divine  sym- 
pathy and  communion,  have  ventured  to  bestow  on  him  the 
name  of  "father"  exceptionally,  not  with  any  intention  of 
making  him  the  head  of  the  Pantheon,  but  as  claiming  to 
themselves  a  share  in  the  Divine  nature,  and  expressing 
the  same  feeling  as  the  Greek  poet  when  he  said,  "  For  we 
are  also  his  offspring."  ff f 

*  Rig- Veda,  vol.  i.  pp.  99  .and  134. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  pp.  307,  309,  etc. 

I  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  305.  §  Ibid.  p.  99. 

II  Mandalaii.  Sukta  134;  and  Mandala  vi.  Sukta  48. 
1  Rig- Veda,  vol.  iii.  p.  211. 

•*  Ibid.  pp.  210  and  212.     Compare  vol.  ii.  p.  49. 

tt  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  313.  Jt  Ibid.  p.  46. 

§§  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  55. 

III  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  487.  11T  Mandala  v.  Sukta  83, 
***  Max  Miiller.  "Science  of  Religion,"  p.  172. 

ttt  Acts  xvii.  28.    St.  Paul,  as  is  well  known,  quoted  Aratus. 


92    RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SANSKR1TIC  INDIANS. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detain  the  reader  with  a  complete 
account  of  the  rest  of  the  thirty-three  gods.  Some,  as 
Aditi,  Pushan,  Brahmaspati,  Brihaspati,  Panjaniya,  seem 
to  be  mere  duplicate  or  triplicate  names  of  deities  already 
mentioned.  Others,  as  the  Aswins,  Ai-yaman,  Rudra, 
Vishnu,  Yama,  belong  to  a  lower  grade,  being  rather  demi- 
gods or  heroes  than  actual  deities.  Others,  again,  are  in- 
distinct, and  of  little  importance,  as  Saraswati,  Bhaga, 
Twashtri,  Parvata,  Hotra,  Bharati,  Sadi,  Varutri,  and 
Dhishana. 

Special  attention  must,  however,  be  called  to  Soma. 
By  a  principle  of  combination  which  is  quite  inscrutable, 
Soma  represents  at  once  the  moon  or  moon-god,  and  the 
genius  presiding  over  a  certain  plant.  The  assignment  of 
a  sacred  character  to  the  Soma,  or  Homa  plant  (Sarcostema 
viminalis),*  was  common  to  Indie  with  the  Iranian  religion, 
though  the  use  made  of  it  in  the  two  worships  was  different. 
According  to  the  ordinary  spirit  of  the  Indie  religion,  a 
deity  was  required  to  preside  over,  or  personify,  this  im- 
portant part  of  the  nature,  and  the  god  chosen  was  the 
same  that  had  the  moon  under  his  protection.  Hence 
arises,  in  the  hymns  to  Soma,  a  curious  complication  ;  and 
it  is  often  difficult  to  determine  which  view  of  the  god  is 
present  to  the  mind  of  the  poet.  The  notion  of  the  plant 
is  the  predominant  one ;  but  intermixed  with  it  in  the 
strangest  way  come  touches  which  can  only  be  explained 
by  referring  them  to  Soma's  lunar  character.! 

The  worship  of  their  gods  by  the  Indians  was  of  a  very 
simple  kind,  consisting  of  prayer,  praise,  and  offerings.  It 
was  wholly  domestic,  that  is  to  say,  there  were  no  temples 
or  general  places  of  assembly  ;  but  each  man  in  his  dwell- 
ing-house, in  a  chamber  devoted  to  religious  uses,  per- 
formed, or  rather  had  performed  for  him,  the  sacred  rites 
which  he  preferred,  and  on  which  he  placed  his  dependence 
for  material  and  perhaps  for  spiritual  blessings.  An  order 
of  priests  existed,  by  whom  alone  could  religious  services 
be  conducted  ;  and  of  these  a  goodly  array  officiated  on  all 
occasions,  the  number  being  sometimes  seven,  at  other  times 
as  many  as  sixteen. $  It  was  not  necessary  for  the  wor- 
shipper to  appear  personally,  or  to  take  any  part  in  the 

*  H.  H.  Wilson,  in  notes  to  the  Rig- Veda.  vol.  i.  p.  6,  note  a. 

t  Ibid.  p.  236,  note  a. 

J  See  Wilson't  "  Introduction  "  to  vol.  i.  p.  xxiv. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        93 

ceremony,  enough  was  done  if  he  provided  the  chamber, 
the  altar,  and  the  offerings.  The  chamber  had  to  be  spread 
with  the  Kusa,  or  sacred  rushes  ;  the  fire  had  to  be  lighted 
upon  the  altar  ;*  and  then  the  worship  commenced.  Pr\ests 
chanted  in  turn  the  verses  of  the  Mantras  or  sacred  hymns, 
which  combined  prayer  with  praise,  and  invited  the  presence 
of  the  deities.  At  the  proper  moment,  when  by  certain 
mystic  signs  the  priests  knew  the  god  or  gods  invoked  to 
have  arrived, f  the  offerings  were  presented,  the  divine 
favor  secured,  the  prayers  recited,  and  the  ceremony 
brought  to  a  close  by  some  participation  of  the  ministering 
priests  in  the  offerings. 

The  praises,  with  which  the  hymns  generally  commence, 
describe  the  power,  the  wisdom,  the  grandeur,  the  marvel- 
lousness,  the  generosity,  the  goodness  of  the  deity  addressed, 
adding  in  some  instances  encomiums  on  his  personal  beauty j 
and  the  splendor  of  his  dress  afid  decorations.§  Occasion- 
ally, his  great  actions  are  described,  either  in  general  terms, 
or  with  special  reference  to  certain  exploits  ascribed  to  him 
in  the  mythology.]  When  he  has  been  thus  rendered 
favorable,,  and  the  offerings  have  been  made  in  the  cus- 
tomary way,  the  character  of  the  hymn  changes  from  praise 
to  prayer,  and  the  god  is  implored  to  bestow  blessings  on 
the  person  who  has  instituted  the  ceremony,  and  sometimes, 
but  not  so  commonly,  on  the  author  or  reciter  of  the  prayer. 
It  is  noticeable  that  the  blessings  prayed  for  are,  predom- 
inantly, of  a  temporal  description. If  The  worshipper  asks 
for  food,  life,  strength,  health,  posterity  ;  for  wealth,  es- 
pecially in  cattle,  horses,  and  cows ;  for  happiness  ;  for 
protection  against  enemies,  for  victory  over  them,  and  some- 
times for  their  destruction,  particularly  where  they  are 

*  It  has  been  questioned  whether  the  fire  was  not  kept  burning 
continually,  as  in  the  Persian  Fire  Temples  (Wilson,  "  Introduction  " 
to  vol.  i.  of  Rig- Veda,  p.  xxiii.);  but  the  constant  allusions  to  the 
production  of  fire  by  friction  make  it  clear  that,  ordinarily,  a  fresh, 
lire  was  kindled. 

t  Haug,  "Essays  on  the  Sacred  Language,  etc.,  of  the  Parsees," 
p.  248. 

t  Wilson,  "  Introduction,"  vol.  i.  p;  xxiv.  See  also  Mandala  i. 
Sukta  9,  §  3;  Sukta  42  §  10;  etc. 

§  Rig-Veda,  vol.  i.  p.  223. 

II  This  is  especially  the  rase  in  hymns  addressed  to  Indra.  (Rig 
Veda,  vol.  i.  pp.  85-93,  136-109,  etc. ). 

T  Wilson,  "Introduction"  to  vol.  i.  of  Rig- Veda,  p.  xxv. ;  Max 
Muller,  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop."  vol.  i.  p.  27. 


94    RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SANSKRITIC  INDIANS. 

represented  as  heretics.  Protection  against  evil  spirits  is 
also  occasionally  requested.  There  is,  comparatively  speak- 
ing, little  demand  for  moral  benefits,  for  discernment,  or 
improvement  of  character,  or  forgiveness  of  sin,  or  repent- 
ance, or  peace  of  mind,  or  strength,  to  resist  temptation. 
The  sense  of  guilt  is  slight.*  It  is  only  "  in  some  few  in- 
stances that  hatred  of  untruth  and  abhorrence  of  sin  are 
expressed,  and  a  hope  uttered  that  the  latter  may  be  re- 
pented of  or  expiated."  f  Still  such  expressions  do  occur. 
They  are  not  wholly  wanting,  as  they  are  in  the  utterances  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  "  Deliver  us  this  day,  O  gods,  from 
heinous  sin,"  is  the  concluding  petition  of  one  Sukta.  $ 
"May  our  sin  be  repented  of,"  is  the  burthen  of  another.§ 
"  Absolve  us  from  the  sins  of  our  fathers,  and  from  those 
which  we  have  committed  with  our  own  bodies,"  is  the 
prayer  of  a  third.  ||  ';  Varuna  is  merciful,  even  to  him  who 
hast  committed  sin,"  is  the  declaration  of  a  fourth. H  Now 
and  then  we  even  seem  to  have  before  us  a  broken-hearted 
penitent,  one  who  truly  feels,  like  David  or  the  Publican, 
the  depth  to  which  he  has  fallen,  and  who,  "  out  of  the 
depths,"  **  cries  to  God  for  forgiveness.  "  Let  me  not  yet, 
O  Varuna,  enter  into  the  house  of  clay,"  i.  e.  the  grave, 
says  a  Vedic  worshipper ;  tf  "  have  mercy,  almighty,  have 
mercy.  If  I  go  along  trembling,  like  a  cloud  driven  by 
the  wind,  have  mercy,  almighty,  have  mercy.  Through  want 
of  strength,  thou  sti-ong  and  bright  god,  have  I  gone 
wrong  ;  have  mercy,  almighty,  have  mercy.  Thirst  came 
upon  the  worshipper  though  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  the 
waters  ;  have  mercy,  almighty,  have  mercy.  Whenever 
we  men,  Varuna,  commit  an  offence  before  the  heavenly 
host,  whenever,  we  break  the  law  tlwough  thoughtlessness ; 
have  mercy,  almighty,  have  mercy." 

The  offerings  wherewith  the  gods  were  propitiated 
were  either  victims  or  libations.  Victims  in  the  early 

»  Wilson,  1.  a.  c.  Max  Miiller  says,  on  the  other  hand,  that  "  the 
consciousness  of  sin  is  a  prominent  feature  in  the  religion  of  the 
Veda  "  ("  Chips,"  vol.  i.  p.  41).  He  means,  probably,  a  noticeable 
feature,  not  prominent  in  the  sense  of  its  occurring  frequently. 

t  These  are  Prof.  Wilson's  words;  and  they  are  quite  borne  out 
by  the  text  of  the  Rig- Veda. 

J  Mandala  i.  Sukta  115,  §  6.  §  Mandala  i.  Sukta  97. 

||  Mandala  vii.  Sukta  80,  §  5.  IT  Mandala  vii.  Sukta  87,  i  7. 

**  Psa.  cxxx.  1. 
tt  Max  Muller,  "Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,"  p.  540, 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.         95 

times  appear  to  have  been  but  rarely  sacrificed  ;  and  the 
only  animals  employed  seem  to  have  been  the  horse  and 
the  goat.*  Libations  were  of  three  kinds :  ghee,  or  clarified 
butter,  honey,f  and  the  expressed  and  fermented  juice  of 
the  soma  plant.  The  ghee  and  honey  were  poured  upon 
the  sacrificial  fire  ;  the  soma  juice  was  presented  in  ladles  i 
to  the  deities  invoked,  part  sprinkled  on  the  fire,  part  on 
the  Jiusa,  or  sacred  grass  strewed  upon  the  floor,  and  the 
rest  in  all  cases  drunk  by  those  who  had  conducted  the 
ceremony.§  It  is  thought  by  some  modern  critics  that  the 
liquor  offered  to  the  gods  was  believed  to  intoxicate  them, 
and  that  the  priests  took  care  to  intoxicate  themselves  with 
the  remainder ;  ||  but  there  is  scarcely  sufficient  evidence 
for  these  charges.  No  doubt,  the  origin  of  the  Soma  cere- 
mony must  be  referred  to  the  exhilarating  properties  of 
the  fermented  juice,  and  to  the  delight  and  astonishment 
which  the  discovery  of  them  excited  in  simple  minds. H 
But  exhilaration  is  a  very  different  thing  from  drunkenness ; 
and,  though  Orientals  do  not  often  draw  the  distinction,  we 
are  scarcely  justified  in  concluding,  without  better  evidence 
than  any  which  has  been  adduced  as  yet,  that  the  Soma  cere- 
mony of  the  Hindoos  was  in  the  early  ages  a  mere  Bacchana- 
lyin  orgy,  in  which  the  worshippers  intoxicated  themselves  in 
honor  of  approving  deities.  Exhilaration  will  sufficiently 
explain  all  that  is  said  of  the  Soma  in  the  Rig-Veda  ;  and  it 
is  charitable  to  suppose  that  nothing  more  was  aimed  at  in 
the  Soma  ceremony. 

The  offerings  of  praise  and  sacrifice,  and  especially  the 
offering  of  the  soma  juice,  were  considered  not  merely  to 
please  the  god,  who  was  the  object  of  them,  but  to  lay  him 
under  a  binding  obligation,  and  almost  to  compel  him  to 
grant  th'e  requests  of  the  worshipper.  "  The  mortal  who 
is  strenuous  in  worship,"  it  is  said,**  "  acquires  an  authority" 
over  the  object  of  his  religious  regards — an  authority  which 
is  so  complete  that  he  may  even  sell  the  god's  favor  to  an- 

*  On  the  sacrifice  of  these,  see  Rig- Veda,  vol.  ii.  pp.  112-125. 

t  ^loney  is  not  common.  On  its  use.  see  Max  Miiller,  "  Ancient 
SansKrit  Literature,"  pp.  535  and  5.37. 

J  Rig-Veda,  Mandala  i.  Snkta  116,  §  24. 

§  Wilson,  "  Introduction  "  to  vol.  i.  of  Rig- Veda,  p.  xxiii. 

II  Hans?  "Essays  on  the  Sacred  Language,  etc.,  of  theParsees," 
pp.  247,  248. 

7  Wilson,  "  Introduction, "p.  xxxvil. 
**  Mandala  iv.  Sukta  15,  §  5. 


gg    RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  tiANSKIUTIC  INDIANS. 

other  person,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  attain  the  object  of 
his  desires,  "  Who  buys  this — my  Indra,"  says  Vamadeva, 
a  Vedic  poet,*  "  with  ten  milch  kine  ?  When  he  shall  have 
slain  his  foes,  then  let  the  purchaser  give  him  back  to  me 
again  ; "  which  the  commentator  explains  as  follows  :|  "Vam« 
adeva  having  by  much  praise  got  Lidra  into  his  possession 
or  subjugation,  pi-oposes  to  make  a  bargain  when  about  to 
dispose  of  him  ;  "  and  so  he  offers  for  ten  milch  kine  to  hand 
him  over  temporarily,  apparently  to  any  person  who  will 
pay  the  price,  with  the  proviso  that  when  Indra  has  sub- 
dued the  person's  foes,  he  is  to  be  returned  to  the  vendor ! 
The  subject  of  a  future  life  seems  scarcely  to  have  pre- 
sented itself  with  any  distinctness  to  the  thoughts  of  the 
early  Indians.  There  is  not  the  slightest  appearance  in  the 
Rig- Veda  of  a  belief  in  metempsychosis,  or  the  transmigra- 
tion of  human  souls  after  death  into  the  bodies  of  animals. t 
The  phenomena  of  the  present  world,  what  they  see  and 
hear  and  feel  in  it,  in  the  rushing  of  the  wind,  the  howling 
of  the  storm,  the  flashing  of  the  lighting  from  cloud  to 
cloud,  the  splash  of  the  rain,  the  roar  of  the  swollen  rivers, 
the  quick  changes  from  day  tonight,  and  from  night  to  day, 
from  storm  to  calm  and  from  calm  to  storm,  from  lurid 
gloom  to  sunshine  and  from  sunshine  to  lurid  gloom  again  ; 
the  interesting  business  of  life,  the  kindling  of  fire,  the 
lighting  up  of  the  hearth ;  the  performance  of  sacrifice  ; 
the  work,  agricultural,  pastoral,  or  other,  to  be  done  during 
the  day,  the  storing  up  of  food,  the  acquirement  of  riches, 
the  training  of  children  ;  war,  the  attack  of  foes,  the  crash 
of  arms,  the  flight,  the  pursuit,  the  burning  of  towns,  the 
carrying  off  of  booty — these  things,  and  such  things  as  these, 
KO  occupy  and  fill  the  minds  of  this  primitive  race,  that 
they  have  in  general  no  room  for  other  speculations,  no 
time  or  thought  to  devote  to  them.  It  is  only  occasionally, 
in  rare  instances,  that  to  this  or  that  poot  the  idea  seems  to 
have  occurred,  "  Is  this  world  the  whole,  or  is  there  a  here- 
after? Are  there  such  things  as  happiness  and  misery  be- 
yond the  grave?  Still,  the  Rig-Veda  is  not  altogether  with- 
out expressions  which  seem  to  indicate  a  hope  of  immortality 
and  of  future  happiness  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  good,  nor  en- 
tirely devoid  of  phrases  which  may  allude  to  a  place  of 

*  Mandala,  iv.  Sukta  24,  §  10. 

t  Wilson,  Rig-Veda,  vol.  iii.  p.  170,  note  2. 

J  Max  Miiller,  "Chips   from  a  German   Workshop,"  vol.  i.  p.  45. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.        97 

future  punishment  for  the  wicked.  "  He  who  gives  alms," 
Bays  one  poet,*  "  goes  to  the  highest  place  in  heaven  ;  he 
goes  to  the  gods."  "Thou,  Agni,  hast  announced  heaven 
to  Manu,"  says  another ;  which  is  explained  to  mean,  that 
Agni  revealed  to  Manu  the  fact,  that  heaven  is  to  be  gained 
by  pious  works. f  "Pious  sacrificers,"  proclaims  a  third, J 
"  enjoy  a  residence  in  the  heaven  of  Indra  ;  pious  sacrificers 
dwell  in  the  presence  of  the  gods."  Conversely,  it  is  said 
that  "  Indra  casts  into  the  pit  those  who  offer  no  sacrificc,"§ 
and  that  "the  wicked,  who  are  false  in  thought  and  false  in 
speech,  are  born  for  the  deep  abyss  of  hell."  ||  In  the  fol- 
lowing hymn  there  is,  at  any  rate,  clear  evidence  that  the 
early  Vedic  poets  had  aspirations  after  immortality : 

"  Where  there  is  eternal  light,  in  the  world  where  the  sun  is  placed, 
In  that  immortal,  imperishable  world,  place  me,  O  Soma. 

Where  King  Vaivaswata  reigns,  where  the  secret  place  of  heaven  is, 
Where  the  mighty  waters  are,  there  make  me  immortal. 

Where  life  is  free,  in  the  third  heaven  of  heavens, 
Where  the  worlds  are  radiant,  there  make  me  immortal. 

Where  wishes  and  desires  are,  where  the  place  of  the  bright  stin  is, 
Where  there  is  freedom  and  delight,  there  make  me  immortal. 

Where  there  is  happiness  and  delight,  where  joy  and  pleasure 
reside. 

Where  the  desires  of  our  heart  are  attained,  there  make  me  im- 
mortal." IF 

As  thus,  occasionally,  the  deeper  problems  of  human 
existence  were  approached,  and,  as  it  were,  just  touched  by 
the  Vedic  bards,  so  there  were  times  when  some  of  the 
more  thoughtful  among  them,  not  content  with  the  simple 
and  childish  polytheism  that  had  been  the  race's  first  instinct, 
attempted  to  penetrate  further  into  the  mystery  of  the 
Divine  existence,  to  inquire  into  the  relations  that  sub- 
sisted among  the  various  gods  generally  worshipped,  and 
even  to  search  out  the  origin  of  all  things.  "  Who  has 

•  Mandala  i.  Sukta  125,  §  5. 
t  Wilson,  "  Kig-Veda,"  vol.  p.  80,  note  a. 
J  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  42. 
§  Mandala  i.  Sukta  121,  §  13. 

I!  Wilson's  "  Rig- Veda,"  vol.  iii.  p.  129,  compared  with  Max 
Muller  ("Chips,"  vol.  i.  p.  47). 

If  The  translation  is  Prof.  Max  Miiller's  ("  Chips,"  vol.  i.  p.  4(5). 


38  RELIGION  OF  THE  EARLY  SANSKRITIC  INDIANS. 

Been,"  says  one,*  "  the  primeval  beiug  at  the  time  of  hig 
being  born,  when  that  which  had  110  essence  bore  that 
which  had  an  essence  ?  Where  was  the  life,  the  blood,  the 
soul  of  the  world  ?  Who  sent  to  ask  this  from  the  sage 
that  knew  it?  Immature  in  understanding,  undiscerning 
in  mind,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  I  inquire  after  those  things 
which  are  hidden  even  from  the  gods.  .  .  .  Ignorant,  I 
inquire  of  the  sages  who  know,  who  is  the  Only  One  who 
upheld  the  spheres  ere  they  were  created  ?  "  After  a  multi- 
tude of  speculations,  he  concludes — "They  call  him  Indra, 
Mitra,  Varuna,  Agni, — then  he  is  the  beautiful-winged 
heavenly  Garutmat :  that  which  is  one,  the  wise  give  it 
many  names— they  called  it  Agni,  Yama,  Matarisvan."  f  An- 
other is  still  bolder,  and  plunges  headlong  in  to  the  deepest 
vortex  of  metaphysics.  The  following  is  a  metrical  version 
of  his  poem: % 

"  A  time  there  was,  when  nothing  that  now  is 
Existed — no,  nor  that  which  now  is  not; 
There  was  no  sky,  there  was  no  firmament. 
What  was  it  that  then  covered  up  and  hid 
Existence  ?    In  what  refuge  did  it  lie  ? 
Was  water  then  the  deep  and  vast  abyss, 
The  chaos  in  which  all  was  swallowed  up  ? 
There  was  no  Death — and  therefore  nought  immortal. 
There  was  no  difference  between  night  and  day. 
The  one  alone  breathed  breathless  by  itself: 
Nor  has  aught  else  existed  ever  since. 
Darkness  was  spread  around ;  all  things  were  veiled 
In  thickest  gloom,  like  ocean  without  light. 
The  germ  that  in  a  husky  shell  lay  hid, 
Burst  into  life  by  its  own  innate  heat 
Then  first  came  Love  upon  it,  born  of  mind, 
Which  the  wise  men  of  old  have  called  the  bond 
'Twixt  uncreated  and  created  things. 
Came  this  bright  ray  from  heaven,  or  from  below  ? 
Female  and  male  appeared,  and  Nature  wrought 
Below,  above  wrought  Will.     Who  truly  knows, 
Who  has  proclaimed  it  to  us,  whence  this  world 
Came  into  being  ?    The  great  gods  themselves 
Were  later  born.    Who  knows  then  whence  it  came  ? 


•Wilson's  "Rig-Veda,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  127,  128.  Compare  Max 
Mil  HIT,  "  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Religion, "p.  46. 

t  Max  Muller,  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,"  vol.  i.p  29. 

J  I  have  followed  as  closely  as  possible  the  prose  translation  of 
Max  Muller,  given  with  an  intermixed  comment  in  his  "  History  of 
Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,"  pp.  559-568. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       99 

The  Overseer,  that  dwells  in  highest  heaven, 
He  surely  knows  it,  whether  He  himself 
Was,  or  was  not,  the  maker  of  the  whole, 
Or  shall  we  say,  that  even  He  knows  not  ?  " 

This  poem,  and  the  other  prayers  above  quoted,  are  suffi- 
cient to  show  that  among  the  Vedic  poets  there  were  at 
any  rate  some  who,  by  God's  grace,  had  raised  themselves 
above  the  murky  atmosphere  in  which  they  were  born,  had 
"  sought  the  Lord,  and  felt  after  Him,"  *  had  struggled 
out  of  polytheism  into  a  conscious  monotheism,  and  al- 
though they  could  not  without  revelation  solve  the  problem 
of  existence,  had  gone  far  to  realize  the  main  points  of 
true  religion ;  the  existence  of  one  eternal  and  perfect 
Being,  the  dependence  of  man  on  Him,  the  necessity  of 
men  leading  holy  lives  if  they  would  please  Him,  and  the 
need,  which  even  the  best  man  has,  of  His  mercy  and  foi> 
giveness. 

*  AcUxvii.27. 


100  RELIGION  OF  THK  EARLY  SAXSKH1TW  INUIANS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS  AND  CARTHAGINIANS. 

"  Le  dieu  des  Phc'niciens,  comuie  de  tous  les  pantheismes  asia- 
tiques,  etait  a  la  fois  un  et  plusieurs." — LENORMANT,  Manuel  d'His- 
toire  Ancienne,  vol.  iii.  p.  127. 

IN  discussing  the  religion  of  the  Phoenicians  and  Car- 
thaginians, we  have  to  deal  with  a  pi*oblem  far  more  diffi- 
cult than  any  which  has  yet  occupied  us.  No  "  sacred 
book,"  like  the  Rig- Veda  the  Zendavesta  or  the  "  Ritual  of 
the  Dead,"  here  spreads  before  us  its  stores  of  knowledge, 
requiring  little  more  than  patient  study  to  yield  up  to  us 
the  secret  which  it  is  the  object  of  our  inquiry  to  discover. 
No  extensive  range  of  sculptures  or  paintings  exhibits  to 
our  eyes,  as  in  Assyria,  Greece,  and  Egypt,  the  outward 
aspect  of  the  worship,  the  forms  of  the  gods,  the  modes  of 
approaching  them,  the  general  character  of  the  ceremonial. 
Nor  has  even  any  ancient  author,  excepting  one,  treated  ex- 
pressly of  the  subject  in  question,  or  left  us  anything  that 
can  be  called  in  any  sense  an  account  of  the  religion.  It  is 
true  that  we  do  possess,  in  the  "  Evangelical  Preparation  " 
of  Eusebius,  a  number  of  extracts  from  a  Greek  writer  of 
the  first  or  second  century  after  Christ  bearing  on  the 
matter,  and  regarded  by  some  moderns  *  ns  containing  an 
authentic  exposition  of  the  Phoenician  teaching  on  a  number 
of  points,  which,  if  not  exactly  religion,  are  at  any  rate  con- 
nected with  religion.  But  the  work  of  Philo  Byblius,  from 
which  Eusebius  quotes,  is  so  wild,  so  confused,  so  unintel- 
ligible, that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  gather  from  it,  unless 
by  a  purely  arbitrary  method  of  interpretation,  t  any  dis- 
tinct views  whatsoever.  Moreover,  the  work  is  confined 
entirely  to  cosmogony  and  mythology,  two  subjects  which 

«  Especially  Baron  Bnnscn.  (See  "  Egypt's  Place  in  Universal 
History,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  102-287.) 

I  Bunftttti  assumes  that  Philo's  work  contains  three  cosmogonies, 
quite  distinct,  of  which  the  second  and  third  contradict  the  first. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.      101 

are  no  doubt  included  in  "  religion,"  as  that  term  was  un- 
derstood in  the  ancient  world,  but  which  lie  so  much  upon 
its  outskirts,  and  so  little  touch  its  inner  heart,  that  even 
an  accurate  and  consistent  exposition  would  go  a  very  short 
way  towards  acquainting  us  with  the  real  character  of  a  re- 
ligious system  of  which  we  knew  only  these  portions.  Add 
to  this,  that  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Philo  of  Byblus 
reported  truly  what  he  found  in  the  Phoenician  originals 
which  he  professed  to  translate,  or  did  not  rather  import  into 
them  his  own  philosophical  notions,  and  his  own  theories  of 
the  relation  borne  by  the  Phoenician  theology  to  that  of 
other  countries. 

If  upon  these  grounds,  we  regard  the  fragments  of 
Philo  Byblius  as  untrustworthy,  and  as  only  to  be  used 
with  the  utmost  caution,  we  are  reduced  to  draw  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  Phoenician  and  Carthaginian  religion  from 
scattered  and  incidental  notices  of  various  kinds — from  the 
allusions  made  to  the  subject  by  the  writers  of  portions  of 
the  Old  Testament,  from  casual  statements  occurring  in 
classical  authors,  from  inscriptions,  from  the  etymology  of 
names,  and  from  occasional  representations  accompanying 
inscriptions  upon  stones  or  coins.  Such  sources  as  these 
"  require,"  as  has  been  well  said,*  the  greatest  care  before 
they  can  be  properly  sifted  and  successfully  fitted  together  ;" 
and  they  constitute  at  best  a  scanty  and  imsatisfactory 
foundation  for  a  portraiture  which,  to  have  any  value,  must 
be  drawn  with  some  sharpness  and  definiteness. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Phoenician 
polytheism — especially  striking  when  we  compare  it  with 
the  systems  which  lay  geographically  the  nearest  to  it,  those 
of  Egypt  and  Assyria — is  its  comparative  narrowness.  If 
we  make  a  collection  of  the  divine  names  in  use  either  in 
Phoenicia  Proper  or  in  the  Phoenician  colonies,  we  shall  find 
that  altogether,  they  do  not  amount  to  twenty.  Baal  Ash- 
toreth,  Melkarth,  Moloch,  Adonis,  Dagon,  Eshmun,  liadad, 
El,  Eliun,  Baaltis,  Or;ca,  Shamas,  Sadyk,  the  Kabiri,  exhaust 
pretty  nearly  the  list  of  the  native  deities;  and  if  we  add 
to  these  the  divinities  adopted  from  foreign  countries, 
Tanith,  Hammon,  (=Ammon),  and  Osir  (=Osiris),  we 
shall  still  find  the  number  of  distinct  names  not  to  exceed 
eighteen.  This  is  a  small  number  compared  even  with  the 

*  Max  Muller,  "  Science  of  Religion,"  pp.  117-118. 


102  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PH(ENICIANS. 

pantheon  of  Assyria ;  compared   with  that  of  Egypt,  it  is 
very  remarkably  scanty. 

It  may  be  added  that  there  are  grounds  for  doubting 
whether  even  the  eighteen  names  above  given  were  regard- 
ed by  the  Phoenicians  themselves  as  designating  really  so 
many  deities.  We  shall  find,  as  we  proceed,  reason  to  be- 
lieve, or  to  suspect,  that  in  more  than  one  case  it  is  the  very 
same  deity  who  is  designated  by  two  or  more  of  the  sacred 
names. 

The  general  character  of  the  names  themselves  is  remark- 
able. A  large  proportion  of  them  are  honorific  titles,  only 
applicable  to  real  persons,  and  indicative  of  the  fact  that 
from  the  first  the  Phoenician  people,  like  most  other  Semitic 
races,  distinctly  apprehended  the  personality  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  and  intended  to  worship,  not  nature,  but  God  in 
nature,  not  planets,  or  elements,  or  storm,  or  cloud,  or 
dawn,  or  lightning,  but  a  being  or  beings  above  and  be- 
yond all  these,  presiding  over  them,  perhaps,  and  working 
through  them,  but  quite  distinct  from  them,  possessing  a 
real  personal  character.  El  signified  "  the  strong,"  or  "  the 
powerful,"  *  and  in  the  cognate  Hebrew  took  the  article, 
and  became  ha-El,  "  the  Strong  One,"  He  who  alone  has  true 
strength  and  power,  and  who  therefore  alone  deserves  to 
be  called  "  strong  "  or  "  mighty."  Eliun  is  the  "  Exalted," 
"  the  Most  High,"  and  is  so  translated  in  our  authorized 
version  of  Genesis  (xiv.  18),  where  Melchizedek,  King  of 
Salem,  the  well-known  type  of  our  blessed  Lord,f  is  said  to 
have  been  "  the  priest  of  the  most  High  God,"  which  is  in 
the  original,  "priest  of  El-Eliun."  Again,  Sadyk  is  "the 
Just,"  "  the  Righteous,"  and  is  identical  with  the  Zedek 
occurring  as  the  second  element  in  Melchizedek,  which  St. 
Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (vii.  2),  translates  by 
"  King  of  righteousness."  Baal  is  "  Lord,"  or  "  Master, 
an  equivalent  of  the  Latin  dominus,  and  hence  a  term  which 
naturally  requires  another  after  it,  since  a  lord  must  be  lord 
of  something.  Hence  in  Phoenician  inscriptions  t  we  find 
Baal-Tsnr^  Lord  of  Tyre,"  Baal- Tsidor,  "Lord  of 
Zidon,"  Baal-  Tars,  "  Lord  of  Tarsus,"  and  the  like.  Hence 
also  we  meet  with  such  words  §  as  J3aal-berith,  "  Lord  of 

•  Max  Mailer,  "  Science  of  Religion,"  p.  177. 
t  See  Psa.  ex.  4:  Heb.  vil.  1-24. 

J  Gesenius,  "Scriptures  Linguseque  Phoenicia  Monuraenta,"  pp. 
96,  277,  etc. 

§  Num.  xxv.  3,  5;  Judg.  viii.  33;  ix.  4;  2  Kings  i.  3,  «. 


THE  I:KLH:I(>\X  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.    103 

treaties,"  H<t<i!-j>»'<>r,  "  Lord  of  Peor  "  (a  mountain),  Baal- 
zebub,  "  Lord  of  flics,"  and  Beel-samin,  *  "  Lord  of  Heaven." 
Adonis,  or  more  properly  Adoni,  for  the  the  S  is  merely  the 
Greek  nominatival  ending:,  has  nearly  the  same  meaning  as 
Baal,  being  the  Phoenician  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  Adonai, 
the  word  ordinarily  rendered  "Lord  "  in  our  version  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Adoni,  however,  takes  no  adjunct,  since 
it  is  most  properly  translated  "my  lord,"  "lord  of  me,"f 
and  thus  contains  in  itself  the  object  of  the  lordship.  Moloch 
is  melck,  "  king,"  the  initial  element  in  Melchizedck  ;  and 
it  is  this  same  word  which  appears  a  second  time,  with  an 
adjunct,  in  Melkarth,  which  is  a  contraction  of  rnelek-kereth 
or  rather  melek-qereth,$  which  means  "  king  of  the  city." 
Baaltis  or  Baalti,  is  the  feminine  form  of  Baal,  with  the 
suffix  found  also  in  Adoni,  and  has  the  meaning  of  "my 
lady."  The  Greeks  expressed  the  word  most  commonly  by 
Beltis,  but  occasionally  by  Beltres,§  and,  though  a  con- 
fusion of  the  kindred  labials  in  and  b,  by  Mylitta.||  The 
Kabiri  are  "  the  Great  Ones,"  from  kabbir,  "  great,"  which 
makes  kabbirim  in  the  plural. 

It  may  be  suspected,  though  it  cannot  be  proved,  that 
these  various  names,  excepting  the  last,  were  originally 
mere  epithets  of  the  One  Eternal  and  Divine  Being  who 
was  felt  to  rule  the  world,  and  that,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  case  elsewhere,  the  Phoenicians  at  any  rate  began 
with  the  monotheistic  idea,  whether  that  idea  originated  in 
the  recesses  of  their  own  hearts  or  was  impressed  upon 
them  from  without  by  revelation.  If  El,  Eliun,  Sadyk, 
Baal,  Adoni,  Moloch,  Melkarth,  were  all  one,  may  not  the 
same  have  been  true  of  Dagon,  Hadad,  Eshmun,  Shamas, 
i-tc.?  nay,  may  not  even  the  foreign  gods,  Hammon  and 
Osir,  have  been  understood  to  be  simply  additional  epithets 
of  the  Most  High,  expressive  of  his  attributes  of  inscruta- 
bility a  no  omniscience? 

A  primary  objection  may  seem  to  lie  against  this  view  in 
the  fact  that  the  Phoenicians  recognized  not  only  gods,  but 
goddesses,  the  name  Ashtoreth  1[  belonging  to  the  religion 

*  Philo  Byblius  in  the  "  Fragmenta  Historicorum  Gnscorum," 
vol.  iii.  p  505. 

t  Gesenius,  p  400. 

t  Gesenius  p.  96.     §  Hesycli.  ad  voc.  /SiyMw-  II  Herod,  i.  131,  199. 

IT  Baal  and  Ashtoreth  appear  first  dintinctly  as  Phoenician  gods  in 
1  Kings  xi.  5;  but  we  may  suspect  that  they  bear  the  same  characte* 


104  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHCENICIANS. 

from  the  very  earliest  time  to  which  we  can  trace  it  back, 
and  Baaltis  being  placed  by  the  side  of  Baal,  apparently  aa 
a  distinct  and  separate  personage.  But  it  has  been  argued 
that  "the  original  conception  of  female  deities  differs  among 
Semitic  and  Aryan  nations,"  and  that  the  feminine  forms 
among  the  Semites  "  were  at  first  intended  only  to  express 
the  energy  or  the  collective  powers  of  the  deity,  not  a 
separate  being,  least  of  all  a  wife."  *  And  this  view  is  con- 
firmed by  passages  in  ancient  insci'iptions  which  seem  to 
identify  Phoenician  gods  and  goddesses,  as  one  in  the  in- 
scription of  Mesa,  which  speaks  of  Chemosh-Ashtar  as  a 
single  deity,  another  in  an  inscription  from  Carthage  in 
winch  Tanith  is  called  Pen-Baal,  or  "  the  face  of  Baal,"t 
and  a  third,  on  the  tomb  of  Eshmunazar,  King  of  Sidon, 
where  Ashtoreth  herself  is  termed  Shem-Baal  "  the  name 
of  Baal."J  If  Ashtoreth  and  Tanith  were  merely  aspects 
of  Baal,  if  the  Pho3nician  Supreme  God  was  "androgy- 
nous,"! the  fact  that  the  religions  system  of  the  people 
admitted  goddesses  as  well  as  gods,  Avill  not  militate  against 
its  original  monotheism. 

A  more  vital  objection  may  be  taken  from  the  two  nnmes, 
Eshmun  and  Kabiri.  The  Kabiri  were  the  sons  of  Sadyk  ; 
they  were  seven  in  number ;  ||  they  were  actual  deities,  the 
special  gods  of  sailors ;  images  of  them  adorned  the  prows 
of  vessels.  And  Eshmun,  the  name  of  their  brother,  is  a 
word  signifying  "  eight,"  or  the  "eighth."  It  seems  clear 
from  this  that  the  Phoenicians  ultimately  recognized  at 
least  eight  gods ;  and  if  so,  we  must  pronounce  them  poly- 
t  heist  s. 

At  any  rate,  whether  or  no  they  were  poly t heists  from 
the  first,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  they  1  ecrme  such. 
When  the  Carthaginian  introduced  by  Plantus  into  his 
"  PoMiulus  "  commences  his  speech H  with  the  words  "Yth 
alonim  v'alonuth  siccarthi,"  which  Plant  us  rightly  renders 

where  they  are  mentioned  in  Judges  ii.  10 :  x.  0.  They  appear  ns 
Syrian  pods  in  the  hieroglyphical  inscriptions  r.s  early  as  1'aineses  II. 
(about  B.  <:.  1450). 

*  Max  Miiller.  "Science  of  Religion,"  p.  18:3. 

t  De  Vogue",  iu  tin;  "Journal  Asiatique"  for  1867,  p.  138. 

\  Max  Wilier,  "Science  of  Religion,"  p.  184. 

§  "  Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.  p.  732. 

II  "  Phllo  Byblius,''  c.  ~>,  |8;  Damascius  ap.  Phot.  "  Bibliothec." 
p.  573. 

t  Plaut.  "Po-nul."  Act  v.  §  1. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     lOfi 

nlonim  v'alonuth  siecarthi,"  which  Plautus  rightly  renders 
by  "Decs  deasque  veneror,"  or,  "  I  worship  the  gods  and 
goddesses,"  he  expresses  a  genuine  Pho3iiician  sentiment. 
Baal  and  Ashtoreth,  if  originally  one,  were  soon  divided, 
were  represented  under  different  forms,  and  were  worship- 
ped separately.  El,  Eliun,  Sadyk,  Adonis,  Melkarth, 
drifted  off  from  their  original  moorings,  and  became  dis 
tinct  and  separate  gods,  sometimes  with  a  local  character.* 
Dagon,  Eshmun,  Shamas,  had  perhaps  been  distinct  from 
their  first  introduction,  as  had  been  the  Kabiri,  and  perhaps 
some  others.  Thus  a  small  pantheon  was  formed,  amount- 
ing, even  including  the  Kabiri,  to  no  more  than  about 
fifteen  or  twenty  divinities. 

At  the  head  of  all  clearly  stood  Baal  and  Ashtoreth,  the 
great  male  and  the  great  female  principles.  Baal,  "the 
Lord"  par  excellence,  was  perhaps  sometimes  and  in  some 
places  taken  to  be  the  sun  ;  t  but  this  was  certainly  not  the 
predominant  idea  of  any  period  ;  and  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  in  the  original  seats  of  the  nation  it  was  ever  enter- 
tained until  after  the  Roman  conquests.  As  Bel  in  Baby- 
lonia was  completely  distinct  from  Shnmrs,|  so  was  Baal  in 
Ph<iMiicia.§  The  Greeks  rendered  Bel  and  Baal,  not  by 
Apollo,  but  by  Zeus;||  and  their  rendering  was  approved  by 
Philo  Byblius,1[  who,  if  a  Greek  by  extraction,  was  well- 
opened  in  Phoenician  lore,  and  a  native  of  Byblus,  a  Phoeni- 
cian town.  Baal  seems  reallv  to  have  been  the  Supreme 
God.  His  chief  titles  were  ^Bual-shamayin,  "the  Lord  of 
heaven,"  Baal-berith,  "  the  Lord  of  treaties,"  corresponding 
to  the  Grecian  "  Zeus  Orkios,"  and  Belithan?**  "  the  aged 
Lord,"  with  which  we  may  compare  the  Biblical  phrase, 
"the  Ancient  of  days."  ft  He  was  also  known  in  Numidia 
as  "the  eternal  king."  \%  Baal  was  the  god  to  whom  we 
may  almost  say  that  most  Phrenicians  were  consecrated 
soon  after  their  birth,  the  names  given  to  them  being  in 

*  Moloch  became  the  special  god  of  the  Ammonites  ;  Hadad,  of 
the  Syrians. 

t  See  Gesenius,  "S  Tip.  Phcenic  Mon.,"  pi.  21. 

t  See  above,  p.  Sl'-oT 

§  The  separate  worship  of  Shamas,  or  the  Sun,  appears  in  2  Kings 
xxiii.  5.  an<l  in  Gesenius,  p.  111). 

II  Herod,  i.  181;  Diod.  Sic.  ii.  0. 

I  Philo.  Uybl.,  c  iv.  §  14. 

*•  Dainasc.  ap.  Phot.  "  Bibliothec."  cod.  ccxlii.  p.  -V)9. 
ft  Dan.  vii.  9,  1&  Jf  Gesenius,  pp.  197,  202,  205. 


1 06 


RELIGION  OF  THE  PH<ENICIAN8.' 


almost  a  majority  of  cases  compounded  with  Baal  or  Bal.* 

Dedicatory  inscriptions  are  in  general    addressed  to  him, 

either  singly, t   or  in  conjunction  with  a  goddess,  who  is 

most  usually  Tanith.J     Not  unfrequently  he  is  addressed 

as  Baal-Hammon,  or  Baal  in  the 

character  of  the  Egyptian  god 

Ammon,§  with  whom  he  is  thus 

identified,  not  unnaturally,  since 

Ammon   too  was  recognized  as 

the  Supreme  God,  and  addressed 

as  Zeus  or  Jupiter.  |j 

Ashtoreth,  or  Astarte,  is  a 
word  whereof  no  satisfactory 
account  has  as  yet  been  given. 
It  seems  to  have  no  Semitic  deri- 
vation, and  may  perhaps  have 
been  adopted  by  the  Semites 
from  an  earlier  Hamitic  popula- 
tion. Originally  a  mere  name 
for  the  energy  or  activity  of  God, 
Ashtoreth  came  to  be  regarded 
by  the  Phoenicians  as  a  real 
female  personage,  a  supreme 
goddess,  on  a  par  with  Baal,1[ 
though  scarcely  worshipped  so 
generally.  In  the  native  myth- 
ology she  was  the  daughter  of 
Uranos  (heaven),  and  the  wife 
of  El,  or  Saturn.**  The  especial  place  of  her  worship  in 
Phoenicia  was  Sidon.f  In  one  of  her  aspects  she  repre- 
sented the  moon,  and  bore  the  head  of  a  heifer  with  horna 
curving  in  a  crescent  fonn,|$  whence  she  seems  to  have  been 
sometimes  called  Ashtoreth  Karnaim,§§  or,  "Astarte  of  the 
two  horns."  But,  more  commonly,  she  was  a  nature  god- 

*Eth-baal  (1  Kings  xvj.  31),  Merbal  (Herod,  vii.  98),  Hannibal, 
Hasdrubal,  Adherbal,  Muliarbal,  are  well-known  Instances. 

t  Gesenius,  "Script.  I'lm-n.  Mon.,"  Nos.  3,  4,  49.  51,  etc. 

t  Ibid.  Nos.  40.  47.  48.  and  50.  §  Ibid.  p.  172. 

II  Herod,  ii.  42;  Diod.  Sid  i.  1:J;  Pint.  "De  Isid.  et  Osir,"  s.  9. 

IT  See  tin1  inscription  in  Gesenius'  collection,  numbered  81  (pi. 
47),  where  liall  and  Ashtoreth  are  joined  tosether.  Compare  Judg. 
ii.  13  ;x.  0. 

»*  Pliilo  Mybl.  c.  iv.  §  12. 

*t  See  1  K ings  x!.  5,  33,  and  compare  the  inscription  of  Eshmu» 
uazur.  Jt  Philo  Byblius,  c.  v.  §  1.  §§  Gen.  xlv.  5. 


ASTARTE. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      1Q7 

dess,  "  the  great  mother,  the  representation  of  the  female 
principle  in  nature,  and  hence  presiding  over  the  sexual 
relation,  and  connected  more  or  less  with  love  and  with 
voluptuousness.  The  Greeks  regarded  their  Aphrodite^ 
and  the  Romans  their  Venus,  as  her  equivalent.  One  of 
her  titles  was  "  Queen  of  Heaven  ; "  and  under  this  title  she 
was  often  worshipped  by  the  Israelites.* 

Melkarth  has  been  regarded  by  some  writers  as  "  only 
another  form  of  Baal."f  But  he  seems  to  have  as  good  a 
claim  to  a  distinct  personality  as  any  Phoenician  deity 
after  Ashtoreth  and  Baal.  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  who 
make  Baal  equivalent  to  their  Zeus  or  Jupiter,  always 
identify  Melkarth  with  Hercules ;  t  and  in  a  bilingual 
inscription,§  set  up  by  two  natives  of  Tyre,  this  identifi- 
cation is  endorsed  and  accepted.  When  Melkarth  is 
qualified  as  baal-Tsur,  "baal  of  Tyre,"  it  is  not  meant  that 
he  was  the  Tyrian  form  of  the  god  Baal,  but  that  he  was 
the  special  tutelary  "  lord  "  of  the  great  Phoenician  city. 
The  word  Melkarth,  as  already  explained,  means  "  king  of 
the  city,"  and  the  city  intended  was  originally  Tyre,  though 
Melkarth  would  seem  to  have  been  in  course  of  time  re- 
garded as  a  god  of  cities  generally  ;  and  thus  he  was  wor- 
shipped at  Carthage,  at  Heraclea  in  Sicily,  at  Amathus  in 
Cyprus,  at  Gades  in  Spain,  and  elsewhere. ||  In  Numidialf 
he  had  the  'title  of  "great  lord;"  but  otherwise  there  is 
little  in  the  Phoenician  monuments  to  define  his  attributes 
or  fix  his  character.  We  must  suppose  that  the  Greeks 
traced  in  them  certain  resemblances  to  their  own  conception 
of  Hercules ;  but  it  may  be  doubtful  whither  the  resem- 
blances were  not  rather  fanciful  than  real. 

That  Dagon  was  a  Phoenician  god  appears  from  many 
passages  in  the  fragments  of  Philo  Byblius,**  though  the 
Israelites  would  seem  to  have  regarded  him  as  a  special 
Philistine  deity.ft  There  are  indications,^  however,  of  his 

•  Jer.  vii.  18:  xliv.  25.  t  Kenrick,  "  Phoenicia,"  p.  322. 

i  Herod,  ii.  44;  Philo  Byhl.  c.  iv.  §  19,  etc. 

§  This  inscription  is  given  by  Gesenius  (pi.  6). 

Ii  See  the  inscriptions  in  Gesenius  (pis.  14,  Iti.  17):  and  the  coins 
of  Heraclea  (pi.  38),  of  Gades  (pi.  40),  and  of  Sextus  (Ibid.)  in  the 
same.  On  Amathus,  see  Hesychius  and  voc.  Malicha. 

f  Gesenius,  pi.  27,  No.  65. 

•'  Especially  c.  iv.  §§  2,  0,  15. 

t  .Tudg.  xvi.  23;  1  Sam.  v  2-5:  1  Chron.  x.  10. 

}|  Borosus  speaks  of  an  early  Babylonian  god  as  bearing  the  name 


108  TEE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 

worship  having  been  spread  widely  through  "Western  Asia 
in  very  early  times ;  and  its  primitive  source  is  scarcely 
within  the  range  of  conjecture.  According  to  the  general 
idea,  the  Phoenician  Dagon  was  a  Fish-god,*  having  the 
form  described  by  Berosus,  and  represented  so  often  in  the 
Assyrian  sculptures — "  a  form  resembling  that  of  a  fish,  but 
with  a  human  head  growing  below  the  fish's,  and  with 
human  feet  growing  alongside  of  the  fish's  tail  and  cominq 
out  from  it."  f  Fish  are  common  emblems  upon  the  Phceni< 
cian  coins;  t  and  the  word  Dagon  is  possibly  derived  from 
dag,  "  a  fish,"  so  that  the  temptation  to  identify  the  deity 
with  the  striking  form  revealed  to  us  by  the  Ninevite  sculpt- 
ures is  no  doubt  considerable.  It  ought,  however,  to  bo 
borne  in  mind  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Scriptural  de« 
scription  of  the  Philistine  Dagon  to  suggest  the  idea  that 
the  image  which  fell  on  its  face  before  the  ark  of  the  cov- 
enant had  in  any  respect  the  form  of  a  fish.§  Nor  do  the  As- 
syrian monuments  connect  the  name  of  Dagon,  which  they 
certainly  contain,  ||  with  the  Fish-deity  whose  image  they 
present.  That  deity  is  Nin  or  Ninus.^T  Altogether,  there- 
fore, it  must  be  pronounced  exceedingly  doubtful  whether 
the  popular  idea  has  any  truth  at  all  in  it ;  or  whether  we 
ought  not  to  revert  to  the  view  put  forward  by  Philo,**  that 
the  Phoenician  Dagon  was  a  "corn-god,"  and  presided  over 
agriculture. 

of  O-dacon,  which  is,  perhaps,  Dagon  with  a  prefix.  Dagon  is  an 
clement  in  the  name  of  a  primitive  Chaldiean  monarch,  which  is  read 
as  Ismi-Dagon.  Asshur-izir-pal  couples  Dagon  with  Ann  in  his  in- 
scriptions, and  represents  himself  as  equally  the  votary  of  hotli. 
Da-gan  is  also  found  in  the  Assyrian  remains  as  an  epithet  of  Belus. 
(See  the  Author's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.p.  014;  2nd  edition.). 

*  See  Kenrick,  "Phoenicia,"  p.  ;J23;  Layard,  "Nineveh  and 
Babylon,"  p.  .'UJJ;  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  ii.  p.  201,  etc. 

t  Beros.  Fr.  i.  §  8. 

J  (reselling,  "Script.  Plum.  Monnmenta,"  pis.  40  and  41. 

§  There  is  nothing  in  the  original  corresponding  to  "  the  fishy 
part,"  which  is  given  in  the  margin  of  the  Authorized  Version.  T  ho 
actual  words  are,  "  only  Dagon  was  left  to  him."  The  meaning  is 
obscure. 

II  Sir  llawlinson  in  the  Author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.  p.  014. 
ord  edition. 

T  Ibid.  p.  042. 

**  Philo  Bybl.  p.  iv  §  2  : — Adywv,  6ftcm  Ziruv.  Compare  §  1/5. 
where  Dagon  is  said  to  have  discovered  corn  and  invented  the  plough, 
whence  he  was  regarded  by  the  C4reeks  as  equivalent  to  their  Zeus 
Arotrios. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      109 

Adonis,  or  Tammuz,  which  was  probably  his  true  name,* 
was  a  god  especially  worshipped  at  Byblus.  He  seems  to 
have  represented  nature  in  its  alternate  decline  and  revival, 
whence  the  myth  spoke  of  his  death  and  restoration  to  life ; 
the  river  of  "Byblus  was  regarded  as  annually  reddened 
with  his  blood  ;  and  once  a  year,  at  the  time  of  the  summer 
solstice,  the  women  of  Phoenicia  and  Syria  generally  "  wept 
for  T;unmu/."t  Extravagant  sorrow  was  followed  after  an 
interval  by  wild  rejoicings  in  honor  of  his  restoration  to 
life;  and  the  excitement  attendant  on  these  alternations  of 
joy  and  woe  led  on  by  almost  necessary  consequence,  with 
a  people  of  such  a  temperament  as  the  Syrians,  to  unbridled 
lii-cnee  and  excess.  The  rites  of  Aphaca,  where  Adonis  had 
his  chief  temple,  were  openly  immoral,  and  when  they  were 
finally  put  down,  exhibited  every  species  of  abomination 
characteristic  of  the  worst  forms  of  heathenism.^: 

El,  whom  Philo  Byblius  identifies  with  Kronos,§  or 
Saturn,  is  a  shadowy  god  compared  with  those  hitherto 
described.  In  the  mythology  he  was  the  child  of  heaven 
and  earth,  the  brother  of  Dagon,  and  the  father  of  a  son 
whom  he  sacrificed.  ||  His  actual  worship  by  the  Phoeni- 
cians is  not  very  well  attested,  but  may  be  regarded  as  in- 
dicated by  such  names  as  Hanni-el,  Kadml  (=Kadmi-el), 
Enyl  (=Eni-el)  and  the  like. IT  He  is  said  to  have  been 
identified  with  the  planet  Saturn  by  the  Phoenicians  ;  **  and 
this  may  be  true  of  the  later  form  of  the  religion,  though 
El  originally  can  scarcely  have  been  anything  but  a  name 
of  the  Supreme  God.  It  corresponded  beyond  a  doubt  to 
II,  in  the  system  of  the  Babylonians,  who  was  the  head  of 
tht>  pantheon,ft  and  the  special  god  of  Babel,  or  Babylon, 
which  is  expressed  by  Bab-il,  "the  gate  of  II,"  in  the  in- 
scriptions. t$ 

*  Gesenius,  "  Script.  Phcen.  Mon."  p.  400. 

*  Ezek.  viii.  14. 

J  Euseb.  "  Vit.  Constantin.  Magn."  iii.  55.  Compare  Kenrick, 
'"  I'hanicia,"  vol.  i.  p.  311. 

§  Philo  Bybl.  c.  iv.  §  2: — 'HAov  rbv  xal  Kpovov.  Compare  §  10 
and  §  21. 

II  Philo  Bybl.  c.  vi.  §  3. 

7  Hanni-el  occurs  in  a  Pho?nician  inscription  (Gesen.  p.  133). 
Kadmil  is  given  as  one  of  the  Kabiri  by  the  Scholiast  on  Apollonius 
Cluxlius  (i.  917).  Enyl  is  mentioned  as  a  king  of  Byblus  by  Arrian 
(•'  Exp.  Alex."  ii.  20). 

>*  Philo  Bybl.  1.  s.  c.  tt  See  above,  p.  47. 

It  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  in  the  Author's  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.  p.  613. 


110 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHCENIC1ANS. 


THE  SUN. 


That  Shamas,  or  Shemesh,  "  the  sun,"  was  worshipped 
separately  from  Baal  has  been  already  mentioned.  In 
Assyria  and  Babylonia  he  was  one  of  the  foremost  deities ;  * 
and  his  cult  among  the  Phoenicians  is  witnessed  bv  such  a 
name  as  Abed-Shemesh,  which  is  found  in  two  of  the  native 
inscriptions.!  Abed-Shemesh  means  "  servant  of  Shemesh/'' 
as  Obadiah  means  "  servant  of  Je- 
hovah," and  Abdallah  "  servant  of 
Allah " ;  and  is  an  unmistakable 
evidence  of  the  worship  of  Shemesh 
by  the  people  who  employed  it  as 
the  parallel  names  are  of  the  wor- 
ship, respectively,  of  Jehovah  and 
Allah,  by  Jews  and  Mohammedans. 
The  sun-worship  of  the  Phoenicians 
seems  to  have  been  accompanied  by 
a  use  of  "  sun-images,"  $  of  which 
we  have  perhaps  a  specimen  in  the 
accompanying  figure,  which  occurs 
on  a  votive  tablet  found  in  Nu- 
midia,§  although  the  tablet  itself  is  dedicated  to  Baal. 
There  was  also  connected  with  it  a  dedication  to  the  sun- 
god  of  chariots  and  horses,  to  which  a  quasi-divine  charac- 
ter attached,  ||  so  that  certain  persons  were  from  their  birth 
consecrated  to  the  sacred  horses,  and  given  by  their  parents 
the  name  of  Abed-Susim,  "servant  of  the  horses,"  as  we 
find  by  an  inscription  from  Cyprus.Tf  It  may  be  suspected 
that  the  Hadad  or  Hadar  of  the  Syrians  **  was  a  variant 
name  of  Shamas,  perhaps  connected  with  adir,  "  glorious," 
and  if  so,  with  the  Sepharvitc  god,  Adrammelech.ft  Adodus 
according  to  Philo  Byblius,  was  in  a  certain  sense  "king 
(melefc)  of  the  gods." 

These  latter  considerations  make  it  doubtful  whether 
the  Moloch  or  Molech,  who  was  the  chief  divinity  of  the 

The  Author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.  pp.  631-634. 

*  Gesenius,  Script.  Phcen.  Mon."  pi.  9. 

t  This  is  given  in  the  margin  of  2  Ghron.  xiv.  5  and  xxxiv.  4,  as 
the  proper  translation  of  khammanim,  which  seem  certainly  to  hav« 
been  images  of  some  kind  or  other. 

§  Gesenius,  "  Script.  Phom.  lion."  pi.  21. 

||  See  2  Kings  xxiii.  11. 

T  Gesenius,  p.  130,  and  pi.  11,  No.  0. 

*•  Found  under  the  form  of  Adodus  in  Philo  Byblius  (c.  v.  §  I). 
«*  2  Kings  xvii.  31. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOELD.      Ill 

Ammonites,*  and  of  whose  worship  by  the  Phoenicians 
there  are  certain  indications,!  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  separate 
and  substantive  god,  or  as  a  form  of  some  other,  as  of 
Shamas,  or  of  Baal,  or  of  Melkarth,  or  even  of  El.  Holeeb, 
meaning  simply  "king"  is  a  term  that  can  naturally  be 
applied  to  any  "great  god,"  and  which  may  equally  well 
designate  each  of  the  four  deities  just  mentioned.  Rites 
like  those  of  Molech  belonged  certainly  to  El  and  to  Baal ;  J 
and  the  name  may  be  an  abbreviation  of  Melkarth, §  or  a 
title — the  proper  title — of  Shamas.  The  fact  that  Philo  has 
a  Melich,  whom  he  makes  a  distinct  deity,  ||  is  of  no  great 
importance,  since  it  is  clear  that  he  multiplies  the  Phoeni- 
cian gods  unnecessarily  ;  and  moreover,  by  explaining  Melich 
as  equivalent  to  Zeus  Meilichios,  he  tends  to  identify  him 
with  Baal. If  Upon  the  whole,  Moloch  seems  scarcely  en- 
titled to  be  viewed  as  a  distinct  Phoenician  deity.  The 
word  was  perhaps  not  a  proper  name  in  Phoenicia,  but  re- 
tained its  appellative  force,  and  may  have  applied  to  more 
than  one  deity. 

A  similarly  indefinite  character  attaches  to  the  Phoeni- 
cian Baaltis.  Beltis  was  in  Babylonian  mythology  a  real 
substantive  goddess,  quite  distinct  and  separate  from  Ishtar, 
Gula,  and  Zirbanit ;  **  but  Baaltis  in  Phoenicia  had  no  such 
marked  character.  We  hear  of  no  temples  of  Baaltis  ;  of 
no  city  where  she  was  specially  worshipped. ft  The  word 
does  not  even  occur  as  an  element  in  Phoenician  proper 
names,  and  if  in  use  at  all  as  a  sacred  name  among  the  Phoe- 
nicians, must  almost  certainly  have  been  a  mere  epithet  of 
Ashtoreth,!!  who  was  in  reality  the  sole  native  goddess. 
Lydus  expressly  states  §§  that  Blatta,  which  is  (like  Mylitta) 

*  See  1  Kings  xi.  7. 

t  The  names  Bar-melek,  Abecl-melek,  and  Mclek-itten,  which 
occur  in  Phoenician  inscriptions  (Gcsenius,  pp.  105,  130, 135),  imply 
a  god  who  has  either  the  proper  name  of  Moloch,  or  is  worshipped  as 
"the  king/' 

J  Diod.  Sic.  xx.  14;  Porphyr.  "  De  Abstinentia,"  ii.  50;  Gesen. 
"Script.  PhttMi.  MOM."  p.  153. 

§  Melkarth  is  frequently  abbreviated  in  the  Pluenician  inscrip- 
tions, and  becomes  Mclkar,  Mokarth,  and  even  Mokar.  Hesychius 
says  that  at  Amathus  Hercules  was  called  Malika. 

I!  Philo  Bybl.  c.  Hi.  §  U. 

If  Since  he  calls  Baal  Zeus  Belus  (c.  iv.  §  17).    **  See  above,  p.  61. 
ft  Philo  makes  her  a  • 'queen  of  Byblus"  (c.  v,  §  5)  but  says  nothing 
of  her  worship  there, 
it  See  Kenrick's  "Phoenicia,"  p.  301.        §§  "De  Mensibus."  i.  10. 


112  EELIGION  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 

a  corruption  of  Baalti,  was  "  a  name  given  to  Venus  of  the 
Phoenicians." 

Sadyk  again,  whom  we  have  mentioned  as  a  distinct 
deity  on  the  strength  of  statements  in  Philo  Byblius  and 
Damascius,*  scarcely  appears  as  a  separate  object  of  worship, 
either  in  Phoenicia  or  elsewhere.  The  nearest  approach  to 
such  an  appearance  is  furnished  by  the  names  Melchi-zedek, 
and  Adoni-zedek,f  which  may  admit  of  the  renderings, 
"  Sadyk  is  my  king,"  "  Sadyk  is  my  lord."  Sadyk  has  not 
been  found  as  an  element  in  any  purely  Phoenician  name ; 
much  less  is  there  any  distinct  recognition  of  him  as  a  god 
upon  any  Phoenician  monument.  We  are  told  that  he  was  the 
father  of  Eshmun  and  the  Kabiri ;  J  and  as  they  were  cer- 
tainly Phoenician  gods  we  must  perhaps  accept  Sadyk  as 
also  included  among  their  deities.  From  his  name  we  may 
conclude  that  he  was  a- personification  of  the  Divine  Justice. 

Eshmun  is,  next  to  Baal,  Ashtoreth,  and  Melkarth,  the 
most  clearly  marked  and  distinct  presentation  of  a  separate 
deity  that  the  Phoenician  remains  set  before  us.  He  was  the 
especial  god  of  Berytus  (Jieirut),§  and  had  characteristics 
which  attached  to  no  other  deity.  Why  the  Greeks  should 
have  identified  him  with  their  Asclepias  or  ./Esculapius,  ||  is 
not  clear.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Sadyk,  and  was  a 
youth  of  great  beauty,  with  whom  Ashtoreth  fell  in  love, 
as  she  hunted  in  the  Phoenician  forests.  The  fable  relates 
how,  being  frustrated  in  her  designs,  she  afterwards  changed 
him  into  a  god,  and  transported  him  from  earth  to  heaven. IT 
Thenceforth  he  was  worshipped  by  the  Phoenicians  almost 
as  much  as  Baal  and  Ashtoreth  themselves.  His  name 
became  a  frequent  element  in  the  Phoenician  proper 
names  ;  **  and  his  cult  was  taken  to  Cyprus,  to  Carthage, 
and  to  other  distant  colonies. 

*  Philo  Byblius,  c.  iii.  §  13;  c.  iv.  §  16;  etc.  Damasc.  ap.  Phot. 
'•Bibliothec,"p.  573. 

t  See  G«n.  xiv.  18,  and  Josh.  x.  1. 

J  Philo  Byblius,  c.  iii.  §  14;  c.  iv.  §  16. 

§  See  Damascius  ap.  Phot.     "  Bibliothec."  p.  573. 

||  This  is  done  by  Philo  of  Byblus  (c.  v.  §  8),  by  Damascius 
(1.  s.  c.),  by  Strabo  (xvii.  14),  and  others. 

IT  Damascius,  1.  s.  c. 

**  I-M i in 1 1  n -:i/:i r,  whose  tomb  lias  been  found  at  Sidon,  Is  the  best 
known  instance;  but  the  Plm:nician  inscriptions  f;ive  also  Bar* 
Eshmun,  Ilan-Eshmun,  Netsib-Eshmun,  Abed-Eshmun,  Eshmun- 
il'.en,  and  others.  (See  Gesenius,  "  Script.  Phoen.  Mon."p.  136.) 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.    113 


COIN  OP  COSSURA 


With  Eshmun  must  be  placed  the  Kabiri,  who  in  the 
mythology  were  his  brothers,*  though  not  born  of  the  same 
mother,  f  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Kabul  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  originally  Phoenician,  or  as  adopted  into  the  re- 
ligion of  the  nation  from  without.  The  word  appears  to  be 
Semitic  ;  t  but  the  ideas  which  attach  to  it  seem  to  belong 
to  a  wide-spread  superstition,  §  whereby  the  discovery  of 
fire  and  the  original  working  in  metals  were  ascribed  to 
strong,  misshapen,  and  generally  dwarfish  deities,  like  Phthah 
in  Egypt,  Hephaistos  and  the  Cyclopes  in  Greece,  "  Gav  the 
blacksmith"  in  Persia,  and  the  gnomes  in  the  Scandinavian 

and  Teutonic  mythologies. 
According  to  Philo  Byb- 
lius  ||  and  Damascius,  H  the 
Phcenician  Kabiri  were 
seven  in  number,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  Scholiast  on 
Apollonius  Rhodius,  **  the 
names  of  four  of  them  were 
Axierus,  Axiokersus,  Axi- 
okersa,  and  Cadmilus  or 

Casmilus.  Figures  supposed  to  represent  them,  or  some 
of  them,  are  found  upon  Phcenician  coins,  as  especially  on 
those  of  Cossura,tt  which  are  exceedingly  curious.  The 
Kabiri  were  said  to  have  in  vented  ships  ;  It  and  't  is  reason- 
able to  regard  them  as  represented  by  the  Patasci  of  Herod- 
otus,§§  which  were  pigmy  figures  placed  by  the  Phoenicians 
on  the  prows  of  their  war-galleys,  no  doubt  as  tutelary 
divinities.  The  Greeks  compared  the  Kabiri  with  their  own 
Castor  and  Pollux,  who  like  them  presided  over  navig- 
ation. mi 

*  Damascius,  1.  s.  c.  ;  Philo  Byblius,  c.  v.  §  8. 
t  Philo  Bybl.  c.  iv.  §  16. 

}  See  above  p.  150.  Mr.  Kenrick  questions  the  derivation  from 
fiabhir  ("Egypt  of  Herodotus,"  p.  287);  but  almost  all  other  writers 
allow  it. 

§See  Mr.   Kenrick's   •'Notes  on  the   Cabiri,"  in  the  work  above 
mentioned,  pp.  264-287. 
II  Philo  Byblius,  c.  v-  §  8. 
T  Damascius,  1.  s.  c. 

**  Schol.  ad  Apoll.  Rhod.  "  Argonautica,"  i.  915. 
tr  See  Gesenius,  "  Script.  Pluen.  Mon."  pi.  3U. 
it  Philo  Byblius,  c.  iii.  §  14. 
§§  Herod,  iii.  37. 
OH  Horat.  "  Od."  i.8,  2;  iii.  29,  64. 


114  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHCENICIANS. 

Besides  their  original  and  native  deities,  the  Phoenician* 
acknowledged  some  whom  they  had  certainly  introduced 
into  their  system  from  an  external  source,  as  Osiris,  Ammon, 
and  Tanith.     The   worship  of  Osiris  is  represented   on  the 
coins  of  Gaulos,*   which  was   an  early- 
Phoenician  settlement ;    and    '•  Osir  " 
(=Osiriss)  occurs  not  unfrequently  as 
an    element    in    Phoenician    names, f 
where  it  occupies  the  exact  place  else- 
where assigned  to  Baal,  Melkarth,  and 
Ashtoreth.     Ammon   is  found  under 
the  form  Hammon  in  votive  tablets, 
but  does  not  occur  independently ;  it 
is   always  attached   as  an    epithet   to 
Baal.J      Whether   it   determines   the      coi^  OF  GAULOS. 
aspect  of  Baal  to  that  of  a  "  sun-god  " 

may  be  question ed,§  since  the  original  idea  of  Ammon  was 
as  far  as  possible  remote  from  that  of  a  solar  deity.  ||  But, 
at  any  rate,  the  constant  connection  shows  that  the  two 
gods  were  not  really  viewed  as  distinct,  but  that  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Phoenicians  their  own  Baal  corresponded  to 
the  Ammon  of  the  Egyptians,  both  alike  representing  the 
Supreme  Being.  Tanith  has  an  important  place  in  a  num- 
ber of  the  inscriptions,  being  given  precedence  over  Baal 
himself.  1|  She  was  worshipped  at  Carthage,  in  Cyprus,**  by 
the  Phoenician  settlers  at  Athens  ff  and  elsewhere  ;  but  we 
have  no  proof  of  her  being  acknowledged  in  Phoenicia  it- 
self. The  name  is  connected  bv  Gesenius  with  that  of  the 
Egyptian  goddess  Neith,:ft  or  fcet ;  but  it  seems  rather  to 
represent  the  Persian  Tanata,  who  was  known  as  Tanaitis 
or  Tanaiis,  and  also  as  Ariaitis  or  Aneitis  to  the  Greeks. 
Whether  there  was,  or  was  uot,  u,  remote  and  original  con- 

»  Geseuius,  pi.  40,  A. 

t'lfcicZ.  pp.  1W,  100,  130  etc. 

1  Ibid,  pp  108, 108,  174,  175,  177,  and  Davis  "  Carthage  and  her 
Remains,"  pi.  opp.  p.  25<J. 

§  Tliis  was  the  opinion  of  Gesenius   ("Script.   Pluun.  Mon."  p. 
170) ;  but  his  arguments  upon  the  point  are  not  convincing. 

||  See  above,  p.  19. 

i  See  Gesenius,  pp.  168,  174,  175,  177;  Davis,   Carthage  and  het 
Remains,"  1.  8.  c. 

*•  Gegenitis,  p.  151.     Compare  p.  14(5,  where  the  true  reading  is 
possibly  Abed-Tanith. 

tt  1H1.  p.  113.  \\  Ibid.  pp.  117,  118. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  AXCIEXT  WORLD.      115 

nection  between  the  goddesses  Neith  and  Tanata  is  perhaps 
open  to  question  ;  but  the  form  of  the  name  Tanith,  01 
Tanath,*  shows  that  the  Phoenicians  adopted  their  goddess, 
not  from  Egypt,  but  from  Persia.  With  regard  to  the 
character  and  attributes  of  Tanath,  it  can  only  be  said  that, 
while  in  most  respects  she  corresponded  closely  with  Ash- 
toreth,  whom  she  seems  to  have  replaced  at  Carthage,  she 
had  to  a  certain  extent  a  more  elevated  and  a  severer,  aspect. 
The  Greeks  compared  her  not  only  to  their  Aphrodite  but 
also  to  their  Artemis,!  the  huntress-deity  whose  noble  form 
is  known  to  us  from  many  pure  and  exquisite  statues.  It 
may  be  suspected  that  the  Carthaginians,  dwelling  in  the 
rough  and  warlike  Africa,  revolted  against  the  softness  and 
effeminacy  of  the  old  Phoenician  cult,  and  substituted  Tanath 
for  Ashtoreth,  to  accentuate  their  protest  against  religious 
sensualism. J 

It  seems  to  be  certain  that  in  Phoenicia  itself,  and  in 
the  adjacent  parts  of  Syria,  the  worship  of  Ashtoreth  was 
from  the  first  accompanied  with  licentious  rites.  As  at 
Babylon, §  so  in  Phoenicia  and  Syria — at  Byblus,  at  Ascalon, 
.at  Aphaca,  at  Hierapolia  || — the  cult  of  the  great  Nature- 
goddess  "  tended  to  encourage  dissoluteness  in  the  relations 
\w\  \vecn  the  sexes,  and  even  to  sanctify  impurities  of  the 
most  abominable  description."  If  Even  in  Africa,  where  an 
original  severity  of  morals  had  prevailed,  and  Tanith  had 
been  worshipped  "  as  a  virgin  with  martial  attributes,"  and 
with  "  severe,  not  licentious,  rites,"  **  corruption  gradually 
crept  in  ;  and  by  the  time  of  Augustine  ft  the  Carthaginian 

*"  Tanath"  is  the  natural  rendering  of  the  Phoenician  word, 
nit  her  than  "  Tanith,"  and  is  preferred  by  some  writers.  (See  Davis, 
"Carthage  and  her  Remains."  pp.  274-276.) 

t  In  a  bilingual  inscription  given  by  Gesenius,  the  Phoenician 
Abed-Tanath  becomes  in  the  Greek  "  Artemidorous."  Anaitis  or 
Tanata  is  often  called  •'  the  Persian  Artemis."  (See  Plutarch.  "  Vit. 
Lucull."  p.  24;  Bochart,  ''  Geographia  Sacra,"  iv.  19;  Pausan.  iii. 
10,  §  0,  etc). 

{See  Davis's  ''Carthage,"  p.  204;  Miinter,  "Religion  dea 
Kartager,"  c.  0. 

§  Herod,  i.  190. 

!!  Herod,  i.  105;  Lucian,  De  Dea  Syra,"  c.  ix;  Euseb.  "  ViU 
Constantin.  Magni,"  iii.  55. 

*  Twistleton,  in  Smith's  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible."  vol.  ii. 
p.  800. 

•*  Kenrick,  "  Phosnicia,"  p.  305. 

t|  Augustine,  "  De  Civitate  Dei,"  ii.  4. 


H6  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHfENIClANS. 

worship  of  the  "  celestial  goddess"  was  characterized  by 
the  same  impurity  as  that  of  Ashtoreth  in  Phoenicia  and 
Syria. 

Another  fearful  blot  on  the  religion  of  the  Phrenicians, 
and  one  which  belongs  to  Carthage  quite  as  much  as  to  the 
mother-country,*  is  the  systematic  offering  of  human  victims, 
as  expiatory  sacrifices,  to  El  and  other  gods.  The  ground 
of  this  horrible  superstition  is  to  be  found  in  the  words  ad- 
dressed by  Balak  to  Balaam f — "  Wherewith  shall  I  come 
before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the  high  God? 
Shall  I  come  before  Him  with  burnt  offerings,  with  calves 
of  a  year  old  ?  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of 
rams,  or  with  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil?  Shall  I  give 
my  firstborn  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body 
for  the  sin  of  my  soul?""  As  Philo  Byblius  expresses  it,| 
"  It  was  customary  among  the  ancients,  in  times  of  great 
calamity  and  danger,  that  the  rulers  of  the  city  or  nation 
should  offer  up  the  best  beloved  of  their  children,  as  an  ex- 
piatory sacrifice  to  the  avenging  deities  :  and  these  victims 
were  slaughtered  mystically."  The  Phoenicians  were  taught 
that,  once  upon  a  time,  the  god  El  himself,  under  the  pres- 
sure of  extraordinary  peril,  had  taken  his  only  son,  adorned 
him  with  royal  attire,  placed  him  as  a  victim  upon  an  altar, 
and  slain  him  with  his  own  hand.  Thenceforth,  it  could 
not  but  be  the  duty  of  rulers  to  follow  the  divine  example 
set  them  ;  and  even  private  individuals,  when  beset  by  diffi- 
culties, might  naturally  apply  the  lesson  to  themselves,  and 
offer  up  their  children  to  appease  the  divine  anger.  We 
have  only  too  copious  evidence  that  both  procedures  were 
in  vogue  among  the  Phoenicians.  Porphyry  declares  §  that 
"  the  Phoenician  history  was  full  of  instances,  in  which  that 
people,  when  suffering  under  great  calamity  from  war,  or 
pestilence,  or  drought,  chose  by  public  vote  one  of  those 
most  dear  to  them,  and  sacrificed  him  to  Saturn."  Two 
hundred  noble  youths  were  offered  on  a  single  occasion  at 
Carthage,  after  the  victory  of  Agathocles.  ||  Hamilcar,  it  is 

*  See  Diod.  Sic.  xx.  14,  65;  Justin,  xviii.  6;  Sil.  Ital.  iv.  765-76S: 
Dionys.  Hal.  i.  38;  etc.     Compare  Geseriius,   "Script.  Pluen.  Mon. 
pp.  448,  449, 453;  and  Davis,  "  Carthage,"  pp.  296, 297. 

t  Micah  vi.  6,  7. 

J  Philo  Bybl.  c.  vi.  §  3. 

§  "  De  Abstlnentia,"  ii.  56. 
'\  Lactaut.  "  Init."  i.  21,  quoting  Pescennius  Festus. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      HI 

possible,  offered  himself  as  a  victim  on  the  entire  defeat  of 
his  army  by  Gelo.*  When  Tyre  found  itself  unable  to  resist 
the  assault  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  proposition  was 
made,  but  overruled,  to  sacrifice  a  boy  to  Saturn. f  Every 
year,  at  Carthage,  there  was  at  least  one  occasion,  on  which 
human  victims,  chosen  by  lot,  where  publicly  offered  to  ex- 
piate the  sins  of  the  nation. $ 

The  private  sacrifices  of  this  sort  went  hand  in  hand 
with  public  ones.  Diodorus  tell  us,§  that  in  the  temple  of 
Saturn  at  Carthage,  the  brazen  image  of  the  god  stood 
with  outstretched  hands  to  receive  the  bodies  of  children 
offered  to  it.  Mothers  brought  their  infants  in  their  arms ; 
and,  as  any  manifestation  of  reluctance  would  have 
made  the  sacrifice  unacceptable  to  the  god,  stilled  them  by 
their  caresses  till  the  moment  when  they  were  handed  over 
to  the  image,  which  was  so  contrived  as  to  consign  what- 
ever it  received  to  a  glowing  furnace  underneath  it.  In- 
scriptions found  at  Carthage  record  the  offering  of  such 
8acrifices.||  They  continued  even  after  the  Roman  conquest ; 
and  at  length  the  proconsul  Tiberius,  in  order  to  put  down 
the  practice,  hanged  the  priests  of  these  bloody  rites  on  the 
trees  of  their  own  sacred  grove. H  The  public  exhibitions 
of  the  sacrifice  thenceforth  ceased,  but  in  secret  they  still 
continued  down  to  the  time  of  Tertullian.** 

The  Phoenicians  were  not  idolaters,  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  word  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  did  not  worship  images 
of  their  deities.  In  the  temple  of  Melkarth  at  Gades  there 
was  no  material  emblem  of  the  god  at  all,  with  the  exception 
of  an  ever-burning  fire. ft  Elsewhere,  conical  stones,  called 
bcetyli,  were  dedicated  to  the  various  deities,t J  and  received 

i 

*  See  the  story  in  Herodotus  (vii.  167). 

t  Quint.  Curt.  "  Vit.  Alex.  Magn."  iv.  15. 

t  Sillius  Ital.  iv.  765-768. 

§  Diod.  Sic.  xx.  14. 

I!  Geseuius  "  Script.  Phten.  Mon.,"  pp.  448,  449.  An  inscription 
given  by  Dr.  Davis  ("  Carthage  and  her  Remains,"  pp.  296,  297)  refers 
to  the  public  annual  sacrifice. 

TTTertull.  "Apologia."  c.  ix. 

~lbul 

tt  Silius  Ital.  ii.  45. 

tt  Philo  Bybl.  c.  iv.  §  2;  Damasc.  ap.  Phot.  "  Bibliothec."  p.  1065; 
Hesych.  ad.  voc.  ftairvAof.  it  has  been  proposed  to  explain  the  word 
b&tulus  as  equivalent  to  Beth-el.  "  House  of  God. "and  to  regard  the 
Phoanicians  as  believing  that  a  deity  dwelt  in  the  stoiie.  (Kenrick, 
"Ptuenicia,"  p.  323,  note  4.) 


118 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PHOENICIANS. 


a  certain  qualified  worship,  being  regarded  as  possessed  of 
a  certain  mystic  virtue.*  These  stones  seem  occasionally 
to  have  been  replaced  by  pillars,  which  were  set  up  in  front 
of  the  temples,  and  had  sacrifices  offered  to  thcm.t  The 
pillars  might  be  of  metal,  of  stone, 
or  of  wood,  but  were  most  com- 
monly of  the  last  named  material, 
and  were  called  by  the  Jews  ashe- 
rahs,  "  uprights."!  At  festive  sea- 
sons they  seem  to  have  been  adorn- 
ed with  boughs  of  trees,  flowers, 
and  ribbons,  and  to  have  formed 
the  central  object  of  a  worship 
which  was  of  a  sensual  and  debas- 
ing character.  An  emblem  com- 
mon in  the  Assyrian  sculptures  is 
thought  to  give  a  good  idea  of  the 
ordinary  appearance  on  such  occa- 
ssion  of  these  asherahs. 

Worship  was  conducted  public- 
ly in  the  mode  usual  in  ancient 
times,  and  comprised  praise,  prayer 
and  sacrifice.  The  victims  of- 
fered were  ordinarily  animals,§ 
though,  as  already  shown,  human 
sacrifices  were  not  infrequent.  It 
was  usual  to  consume  the  victims  SACRED  THICK— AKHERAH. 
entirely  upon  the  altars.  ||  Libations 

of  wine  were  copiously  poured  forth  in  honor  of  the  chief 
deities, IT  and  incense  was  burnt  in  lavish  profusion.**  Occa- 
sionally an  attempt  was  made  to  influence  the  deity  in- 

*  The  original  b<fiuli  were  perhaps  aeroliths,  which  were  regarded 
as  divine,  since  they  had  fallen  from  the  sky. 

t  Philo  Byblius,  e.  iii.  §  7.  On  the  pillar-worship  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians, see  Bunsen,  Egypt's  Place  in  Univ.  History,"  vol.  iv.  pp.  208- 
21-2. 

t  Axherdh  is  commonly  translated  hy  "  grove  "  in  the  Authorized 
Version:  but  its  true  character  has  been  pointed  out  by  many  critics. 
(See  "Speaker's  Commentary."  vol.  i.  pp.  410,  417;  "Ancient 
Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.  p.  8;  2nd  edition.) 

§  Lucian,  "  De  Doa  Syra,"§  49. 

II  (iesenius,  i'Sc-ript.  Phcen.  Mon."  pp.  44(i,  447;  Movers,  "Das 
Opferwesen  der  KarMiager,"  p.  71.  etc. 

H  Philo  Bybl.  «.  Iv..  §  1. 

*•  Virg.  "'JBu."l.  415. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     119 

voked  by  loud  and  prolonged  cries,  and  even  by  self-infli,ct- 
ed  wounds  and  mutilation.*  Frequent  festivals  were  held, 
especially  one  at  the  vernal  equinox,  when  sacrifices  were 
made  on  the  largest  scale,  and  a  vast  concourse  of  persons 
\v:is  gathered  together  at  the  chief  temples.f  Altogether 
the  religion  of  the  Phoenicians,  while  possessing  some  re- 
deeming points,  as  the  absence  of  images  and  deep  sense  of 
sin  which  led  them  to  sacrifice  what  was  nearest  and  dear- 
est to  them  to  appease  the  divine  anger,  must  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  lowest  and  most  debasing  of  the  forms  of  belief 
and  worship  prevalent  in  the  ancient  world,  combining  as  it 
did  impurity  with  cruelty,  the  sanction  of  licentiousness  with 
the  requirement  of  bloody  rites,  revolting  to  the  conscience, 
and  destructive  of  any  right  apprehension  of  the  true  idea 
of  God. 

*  1  Kings  xviii.  26,  28;  Lucian,  "De  Dea  Syra,"§   50;  Plutarch. 
**  De  Superstitione,"  p.  170,  c. 
t  Lucian,  "  De  Dea  Syra,"  §  48. 


120  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETRUSCANS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    RELIGION    OF    THE    ETRUSCANS. 

"  Hetrusci,  religione  imbuti." — Cic.  De  Div.  i.  42. 

THE  religion  of  the  Etruscans,  or  Tuscans,  like  that  of 
the  Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians,  is  known  to  us  chiefly 
from  the  notices  of  it  which  have  come  down  to  us  in  the 
woi'ks  of  the  classical  writers,  Greek  and  Latin.  It  has, 
however,  the  advantage  of  being  illustrated  more  copiously 
than  the  Phoenician  by  monuments  and  other  works  of  art 
found  in  the  country,  the  productions  of  native  artists — 
works  which  in  some  respects  give  us  a  considerable  insight 
into  its  inner  character.  On  the  other  hand,  but  little 
light  is  thrown  upon  it  by  the  Etruscan  inscriptions,  partly 
because  these  inscriptions  are  almost  all  of  a  single  type, 
being  short  legends  upon  tombs,  partly  from  the  fact  that 
the  Etruscan  language  has  defied  all  the  efforts  made  to 
interpret  it,  and  still  remains,  for  the  most  part,  an  insolu- 
ble, or  at  any  rate  an  unsolved,  problem.  We  are  thus 
without  any  genuine  Etruscan  statements  of  their  own 
views  upon  religious  subjects,  and  are  forced  to  rely 
mainly  upon  the  reports  of  foreigners,  who  looked  upon 
the  system  only  from  without,  and  are  not  likely  to  have 
fully  understood  it.  It  is  a  further  disadvantage  that  our 
informants  write  at  a  time  when  the  Etruscans  had  long 
ceased  to  be  a  nation,  and  when  the  people,  having  been 
subjected  for  centuries  to  foreign  influences,  had  in  all 
probability  modified  their  religious  views  in  many  import- 
ant points. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  their  religion,  whatever 
it  was,  occupied  a  leading  position  in  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  the  Etruscan  nation.  ""With  Etruria,"  says  a 
modern  writer,  "religion  was  an  all-pervading  principle — 
the  very  atmosphere  of  her  existence — a  leaven  operating 
on  the  entire  mass  of  society,  a  constant  pressure  ever  felt 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     121 

in  one  form  or  other,  a  power  admitting  no  rival,  all-ruling, 
all-regulating,  all-requiring.*  Livy  calls  the  Etruscans  "a 
race  which,  inasmuch  as  it  excelled  in  the  art  of  religious 
observances,  was  more  devoted  to  them  than  any  other 
nation."  f  Arnobius  says  that  Etruria  was  "  the  creator 
and  parent  of  superstition."  |  The  very  name  of  the  na- 
tion, Tusci,  was  derived  by  some  from  a  root,  thuein,  "  to 
sacrifice,"  or  "  make  offerings  to  the  gods  "  § — as  if  that 
were  the  chief  occupation  of  the  people.  While  famous 
among  the  nations  of  antiquity  for  their  art,  their  com- 
merce, and  their  warlike  qualities,  the  Etruscans  were 
above  all  else  celebrated  for  their  devotion  to  their  religion, 
and  for  "  the  zeal  and  scrupulous  care  with  which  they 
practiced  the  various  observances  of  its  rites  and  cere- 
monies." || 

The  objects  of  worship  were  twofold,  including  (1) 
Deities  proper,  and  (2)  the  Lares,  or  ancestral  spirits  of 
each  family.  The  deities  proper  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes:  first,  those  whose  sphere  was  the  heaven,  or  some 
portion  of  it ;  secondly,  those  who  belonged  more  properly 
to  earth ;  and  thirdly,  those  of  the  infernal  regions,  or 
nether  world,  which  held  a  prominent  place  in  the  system, 
and  was  almost  as  much  in  the  thoughts  of  the  people  as 
their  "  Amenti "  was  in  the  thoughts  of  the  Egyptians.^" 

The  chief  deities  of  the  Heaven  were  the  following  five : 
Tina,  or  Tinia,  Cupra,  Menrva,  Usil  and  Losna. 

Tina,  or  Tinia,  who  was  recognized  as  the  chief  god,  ** 
and  whom  the  Greeks  compared  to  their  Zeus,  and  the  Ro- 
mans to  their  Jupiter,  seems  to  have  been  originally  the 
heaven  itself,  considered  in  its  entirety,  and  thus  cor- 
responded both  in  name  and  nature  to  the  Tien  of  the 
Chinese,  with  whom  it  may  be  suspected  that  the  Etrus- 
cans had  some  ethnic  affinity.  Tina  is  said  to  have  had  a 

*  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries  of  Etruria,  vol.  i.  Introduction, 
p.  xlix. 

t  "  Gens  ante  omnes  alias  eo  magis  dedita  religionibus,  quod 
excelleret  urte  colendi  eas,"  Liv.  v.  1. 

J  Arnob.  "  Adv.  Gentes,"  vii. 

§Servius,  "Comment,  in  Virg.  JEn."  x.  1.  267. 

II  Smith,  "Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geography,"  vol.  i. 

If  See  above,  p.  33. 

**  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  i.  "  Introduction,"  p.  1 ; 
Taylor,  "  Etruscau  Researches,"  p.  132. 


1 22  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETR  USCANS. 

special  temple  dedicated  to  his  honor  in  every  Etruscan 
city,  and  in  every  such  city  one  of  the  gates  bore  his  name.* 
He  appears  to  have  been  sometimes  worshipped  under  the 
appellation  of  Summanus,  which  perhaps  meant  "the  su- 
preme god."  f  We  must  not,  however,  take  this  term  as  in- 
dicative of  a  latent  monotheism,  whereof  there  is  no  trace 
in  the  Etruscan  religion,  but  only  as  a  title  of  honor,  or 
at  most  as  a  recognition  of  a  superiority  in  rank  and  dignity 
on  the  part  of  this  god,  who  was  primus  inter  pares,  the 
presiding  spirit  in  a  conclave  of  equals. 

Next  to  Tina  came  Cupra,  a  goddess,  who  appears  to 
have  also  borne  the  name  of  Thalna  or  Thana.  $  The 
Greeks  compared  her  to  their  Hera,  and  the  Eomans  to 
their  Juno,  or  sometimes  to  their  Diana,  who  was  originally 
the  same  deity.  Like  Tina,  Cupra  had  a  temple  in  every 
Etruscan  city,  and  a  gate  named  after  her.  §  It  is  thought 
by  some  that  she  was  a  personification  of  light,  or  day ;  || 
but  this  is  uncertain.  Her  name,  Thana,  looks  like  a  meve 
variant  of  Tina,  and  would  seem  to  make  her  a  mere 
feminine  form  of  the  sky-god,  his  complement  and  counter- 
part, standing  to  him  as  Amenta  to  Ammon  in  the  Egyp- 
tian, or  as  Luna  to  Liuius  in  the  Roman  mythology.  A 
similar  relation  is  found  to  have  subsisted  between  the  two 
chief  deities  of  the  Etruscan  nether  world. 

The  third  among  the  cck'stial  deities  was  Menrva,  or 
Menrfa,  out  of  whom  the  Romans  made  their  Minerva. 
She  enjoyed  the  same  privileges  in  the  Etruscan  cities  as 
Tina  and  Cupra,  having  her  own  temple  and  her  own  gate 
in  each  of  them.1I  Mr.  Isaac  Taylor  believes  that  originally 
she  represented  the  half  light  of  the  morning  and  evening, 
and  even  ventures  to  suggest  that  her  name  signified  "the 
red  heaven,"  and  referred  to  the  flush  of  the  sky  at  dawn 
and  sunset.**  A  slight  confirmation  is  afforded  to  this  view 
by  the  fact  that  we  sometimes  find  frroMenrvas  represented 
in  a  single  Etruscan  work  of  art. ft  But  we  scarcely  possess 

•Serving,  "Comment  in  Virg   JEn."  i.  422. 

t  Max  Miiller,  "Science  of  Religion,"  p.  370. 

J  The  name  Cupra  is  known  to  ns  only  fromStrabo  ("Geograph." 
v.  p.  241).  Thalna  is  found  on  Etruscan  monuments. 

§  Servlrs,  1.  s.  c. 

II  Gerhard.  "  Gottheiten  der  Etrusker,"  p.  40;  Taylor,  "Etruscan 
Researches,"  p.  142. 

1f  Servius,  I.  s.  c. 
•»  "  Etruscan  Researches,"  p.  137.  T*  Tbid.  p.  138. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     123 

sufficient  materials  for  determining  the  real  original  char- 
acter of  this  deity.  It  was  probably  foreign  influence  that 
brought  her  ultimately  into  that  close  resemblance  which 
she  bears  to  Minerva  and  Athene  on  the  mirrors  and  vases, 
where  she  is  represented  as  armed  and  bearing  the  aegis.* 

TJsil  and  Losna,  whom  we  have  ventured  to  join  with 
Tina,  Cupra,  and  Menrva  as  celestial  deities,  appear  to  have 
been  simply  the  Sun  and  the  Moon,  objects  of  worship  to 
so  many  ancient  nations.  Usil  was  identified  with  the 
Greek  Apollo  (called  Aplu  by  the  Etruscans),  and  was  rep- 
resented as  a  youth  with  bow  and  arrows.f  Losna  had 
the  crescent  for  her  emblem,  $  and  was  figured  nearly  as 
Diana  by  the  Komans.§ 

Next  to  Usil  and  Losna  may  be  placed  in  a  group  the 
three  elemental  gods,  Sethlans,  the  god  of  lire,  identified  by 
the  Etruscans  themselves  with  the  Greek  Hephaistos  and 
the  Latin  Vulcan  ;  Nethuns,  the  water-god,  probably  the 
same  as  Neptunus ;  and  Phuphlans,  the  god  of  earth  and 
all  earth's  products,  who  is  well  compared  with  Dionysus 
and  Bacchus.  ||  Phuphlans  was  the  special  deity  of  Pup- 
luna,  or  (as  the  Romans  called  it)  Populonia.lf  He  seems 
to  have  been  called  also  Vorturnnus  or  Volturnus  ;**  and  in 
this  aspect  he  had  a  female  counterpart,  Voltumna,  whose 
temple  was  the  place  of  meeting  where  the  princes  of  Etruria 
discussed  the  affairs  of  the  Confederation. ft 

Another  group  of  three  consists  of  Turan,  Thesan,  and 
Turms,  native  Etruscan  deities,  as  it  would  seem,  cor- 
responding more  or  less  closely  to  the  Aphrodite,  Eos,  and 
Hermes  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Venus,  Aurora,  and  Mer- 
curius  of  the  Romans.  Of  these  Turan  is  the  most  fre- 
quently found,  but  chiefly  in  subjects  taken  from  the  Greek 
mythology,  while  Thesan  occurs  the  least  often.  Accord- 
ing to  one  view,  the  name  Turms  is  the  mere  Etruscan 
mode  of  writing  the  Greek  word  Hermes, tt  the  true  native 

*  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  i.  Introduction,  p.  li. 

t  Taylor,  "  Etruscan  Researches,    p.  143. 

t  Lanzi,  "Saggio  della  Lingua  Etrusca,"  vol.  ii.  p.  76. 

§  Dennis,  '•  Cities  and  Cemeteries,''  vol.  i.  Introduction,  p.  liv. 

II  Taylor,  "  Etruscan  Researches,"  p.  141;  Smith,  "  Diet,  of  Greek 
and  Rom.  Antiquities,"  vol.  i.  p.  8(55. 

IT  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  ii.  p.  242. 
**  Ibid.  vol.  i.  Introduction,  p.  liii. 
ttLiv.  iv.  23,  61  ;v.  17.  etc.' 
Jt  Taylor,  "Etruscan  Researches,"  p.  149. 


124  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETRUSCANS. 

name  having  been  Camillas  or  Kami!.*  It  does  not  appear 
that  any  of  these  three  gods  was  much  worshipped,  by  the 
Etruscans.  They  figured  in  the  mythology,  but  lay  almost 
outside  the  religion. 

The  main  character  in  which  the  gods  of  heaven  and  earth 
were  recognized  by  the  Etruscans  was  that  of  rulers,  signi- 
fying, and  sometimes  executing,  their  will  by  means  of 
thunder  and  lightning.  Nine  great  gods,  known  as  the 
Novensiles,  were  believed  to  have  the  power  of  hurling 
thunderbolts,  and  were  therefore  held  in  special  honor,  f 
Of  these  nine,  Tinia,  Cupra,  Menrvay  and  Sethlans,  were 
undoubtedly  four.  Summanus  and  Vejovis,  who  are  some- 
times spoken  of  as  thundering  gods,  $  seem  to  be  mere 
names  or  aspects  of  Tinia.  The  Etruscans  recognized  twelve 
sorts  of  thunder-bolts,  and  ascribed,  we  are  told,  to  Tinia 
three  of  them.§ 

But  it  was  to  the  unseen  world  beneath  the  earth,  the 
place  to  which  men  went  after  death,  and  wheve  the  souls 
of  their  ancestors  resided,  that  the  Etruscans  devoted  the 
chief  portion  of  their  religious  thought ;  and  with  this  were 
connected  the  bulk  of  their  religious  observances.  Over 
the  dark  realms  of  the  dead  fated  Mantus  and  Mania,  king 
and  queen  of  Hades,  the  former  represented  as  an  old  man, 
wearing  a  crown,  and  with  wings  on  his  shoulders,  and 
bearing  in  his  hands  sometimes  a  torch,  sometimes  two  or 
three  large  nails,  which  are  thought  to  indicate  "the  in- 
evitable character  of  his  decrees."  ||  Intimately  connected 
with  these  deities,  their  prime  minister  and  most  active 
agent,  cruel,  hideous,  half  human,  half  animal,  the  chief 
figure  in  almost  all  the  representations  of  the  lower  world, 
is  the  demon,  Charun,  in  name  no  doubt  identical  with  the 
Stygian  ferryman  of  the  Greeks,  but  in  character  so  differ- 
ent that  it  has  even  been  maintained  that  there  is  no 
analogy  between  them.U"  Charun  is  "  generally  represented 
as  a  squalid  and  hideous  old  man  with  flaming  eyes  and 
savage  aspect ;  but  he  has,  moreover,  the  ears,  and  often 

•  So  Callimachus  ap.  Serv.  in  Virg.  Mn.  xi.  1.  543. 

t  Varro,  "De  Ling.  Lat."  v.  74;  Plin.  •'  H.N."ii.  53;  Manillas  ap 
Arnob.  •'  Adv.  Gentes,"  iii.  38. 

J  Plin.  1.  s.  c.;  Amm.  Marc.  xvii.  10,  §2. 

§  Senec.  "Nat.  Qwest."  ii.  41. 

II  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  i.  Introduction,  p.  Ivi. 

If  Ambrosch,  "De  Charonte  Etrusco,"  quoted  by  Dennis,  vol.  ii 
p.  206. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      125 

the  tusks  of  a  brute,"  with  (sometimes)  "negro  features 
ami  complexion,  and  frequently  wings,"  *  so  that  he  "an- 
swers well,  cloven  feet  exeepted,  to  the  modern  conception 
of  the  devil."  His  brow  is  sometimes  bound  round  by 
snakes;  at  other  times  he  has  a  snake  twisted  round  his 
arm;  and  he  bears  in  his  hands  almost  universally  a  huge 
mallet  or  hammer,  upraised,  as  if  he  were  about  to  deal  a 
death-stroke.  When  death  is  being  inflicted  by  man,  he 
stands  by,  "grinning  with  savage  delight ;"  f  when  it 
comes  naturally,  he  is  almost  as  well  pleased  ;  he  holds 
the  horse  on  which  the  departed  soul  is  to  take  its  journey 
to  the  other  world,  bids  the  spirit  mount,  leads  away  the 
horse  by  the  bridle  or  drives  it  before  him,  and  thus  con- 
ducts the  deceased  into  the  grim  kingdom  of  the  dead.J 
In  that  kingdom  he  is  one  of  the  tormentors  of  guilty  souls, 
whom  he  strikes  with  his  mallet,  or  with  a  sword,  while 
they  kneel  before  him  and  implore  for  mercy.  Various 
attendant  demons  and  furies,  some  male  some  female,  seem 
to  act  under  his  orders,  and  inflict  such  tortures  as  he  is 
pleased  to  prescribe. 

It  must  be  supposed  that  the  E'ruscnn  conceived  of  a 
judgment  after  death,  and  of  an  apportionment  of  rewards 
and  punishments  according  to  desert. §  But  it  is  curious 
that  the  representations  in  the  tombs  give  JIG  clear  evidence 
of  any  judicial  process,  containing  nothing  analogous  to  the 
Osirid  trial,  the  weighing  of  the  soul,  the  sentence,  and  the 
award  accordingly,  which  are  so  conspicuous  on  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt.  Good  and  evil  spirits  seem  to  contend 
for  the  possession  of  souls  in  the  nether  world  ;  furies  pur- 
sue some,  and  threaten  them  or  torment  them  ;  good  genii 
protect  others  and  save  them  from  the  dark  demons,  who 
would  fain  drag  them  to  the  place  of  punishment.  ||  Souls 
are  represented  in  a  state  which  seems  to  be  intended  for 
one  of  ideal  happiness,  banqueting,  or  hunting,  or  playing 
at  games,  and  otherwise  enjoying  themselves  ;  H  but  the 
grounds  of  the  two  different  conditions  in  which  the  de- 

*  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  ii.  p.  206. 
t  Ibid.  p.  207. 
t  Ibid  pp.  193,  194. 

§  So  Dennis  and  others;  but  there  is  a  want  of  distinct  evidence 
upon  the  point. 

P  Dennis,  "Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  193-198 
1  Ibid  vol.  i.  pp.  444-446. 


jr26  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETRUSCANS. 

parted  spirits  exists  are  not  clearly  set  forth,  and  it  is  anal- 
ogy  rather  than  strict  evidence  which  leads  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  desert  is  the  ground  on  which  the  happiness 
and  misery  are  distributed. 

Besides  Charun  and  his  nameless  attendant  demons  and 
furies,  the  Etruscan  remains  give  evidence  of  a  belief  in  a 
certain  small  number  of  genii,  or  spirits,  having  definite 
names,  and  a  more  or  less  distinct  and  peculiar  character. 
One  of  the  most  clearly  marked  of  these  is  Vanth,  or  Death, 
who  appears  in  several  of  the  sepulchral  scenes,  either 
standing  by  the  door  of  an  open  tomb,  or  prompting  the 
slaughter  of  a  prisoner,  or  otherwise  encouraging  carnage 
and  destruction.*  Another  is  Kulmu,  "  god  of  the  tomb," 
who  bears  the  fatal  shears  in  one  hand  and  a  funeral  torch 
in  the  other,  and  opens  the  door  of  the  sepulchre  that  it  may 
receive  into  it  a  fresh  inmate,  t  A  third  being  of  the 
same  class  is  Nathuns,  a  sort  of  male  fury,  represented  with 
tusk-likefangs  and  hair  standing  on  end,  while  in  either 
hand  he  grasps  a  serpent  by  the  middle,  which  he  shakes 
over  avengers,  in  order  to  excite  them  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  frenzy.  J 

In  their  worship  the  Etruscan  sought,  first  of  all  and 
especially,  to  know  the  will  of  the. gods,  which  they  be- 
lieved to  be  signified  to  man  in  three  principal  ways.  These 
were  thunder  and  lightning,  which  they  ascribed  to  the 
direct  action  of  the  heavenly  powers  ;  the  flight  of  birds, 
which  they  supposed  to  be  subject  to  divine  guidance  ; 
and  certain  appearances  in  the  entrails  of  victims  offered  in 
sacrifice,  which  they  also  regarded  as  supernaturally  induced 
or  influenced.  To  interpret  these  indications  of  the  divine 
will,  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  class  of  persons  trained  in 
the  traditional  knowledge  of  the  signs  in  question,  and 
skilled  to  give  a  right  explanation  of  them  to  all  inquirers. 
Hence  the  position  of  the  priesthood  in  Etruria,  which  was 
"an  all-dominant  hierarchy,  maintaining  its  sway  by  an  arro- 
gant exclusive  claim  to  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  will 
of  heaven,  and  the  decrees  of  fate."  §  The  Etruscan  priests 

'Taylor,  " Etruscan  Researches."  pp.  100-102.  (For  the  scenes 
referred  to.  see  Micali,  "Monument!  Incditi,"  pi.  lx.;  and  Des 
Vergers,  "  L'Etrurie  et  les  Etrusques,"  pi.  xxi.). 

Ubid.  p.  94. 

J  Taylor,  "Etruscan  Kesearches,"  p.  112. 

§  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,   vol.  i.  Introduction,  p.  xxxix. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      127 

were  not,  like  the  Egyptian,  the  teachers  of  the  people,  the 
inculcators  of  a  high  morality,  or  the  expounders  of  esoteric 
doctrines  on  the  subjects  of  man's  relation  to  God,  his  true 
aim  in  life,  and  his  ultimate  destiny  ;  they  were  sooth- 
sayers,* who  sought  to  expound  the  future,  immediate  or 
remote,  to  warn  men  against  coming  dangers,  to  suggest 
modes  of  averting  the  divine  anger,  and  thus  to  save  men 
from  evil  which  would  otherwise  have  come  upon  them  un- 
awares and  ruined  or,  at  any  rate,  greatly  injured  them. 
Men  were  taught  to  observe  the  signs  in  the  sky,  and  the 
appearance  and  flight  of  bii'ds,  the  sounds  which  they  ut- 
tered, their  position  at  the  time,  and  various  other  partic- 
ulars ;  they  were  bidden  to  note  whatever  came  in  their 
way  that  seemed  to  them  unusual  or  abnormal,  and  to  re- 
port all  to  the  priests,  who  thereupon  pronounced  what  the 
signs  observed  portended,  and  either  announced  an  inevit- 
able doom,  f  or  prescribed  a  mode  whereby  the  doom  might 
be  postponed  or  averted.  Sometimes  the  signs  reported 
were  declared  to  affect  merely  individuals  ;  but  frequently 
the  word  went  forth  that  clanger  was  portended  to  the 
state  ;  and  then  it  was  for  the  priesthood  to  determine  at 
once  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  danger,  and  also  the  meas- 
ures to  be  adopted  under  the  circumstances.  Sacrifices  on 
a  vast  scale  or  of  an  unusual  character  were  commonly  com- 
manded in  such  cases,  even  human  victims  being  occasion- 
ally offered  to  the  infernal  deities,  Mantus  and  Mania,  J 
whose  wrath  it  was  impossible  to  appease  in  any  less  fear- 
ful way.  Certain  books  in  the  possession  of  the  hierarchy 
ascribed  to  a  half  divine,  half  human  personage,  named 
Tages,§  and  handed  down  from  a  remote  antiquity,  con- 
tained the  system  of  divination  which  the  priests  followed, 
and  guided  them  in  their  expositions  and  requirements. 

*  Cic.  "De  Divinatione,"  i.  p.  41,  42;  Senec.  "Nat.  Quaest."  ii. 
82;  Diod.  Sic.  v.  p.  316;  Dionys.  Hal.  ix.  p.  563;  Aulus  Gell.  iv.  5; 
Lucan,  "  Phars."  i.  1.  587,  etc. 

»  t  The  Etruscans  recognized  a  power  of  Fate,  superior  to  the  great 
gods  themselves,  Tinia'and  the  others,  residing  in  certain  "  Di 
Involuti,"or  "Di  Superiores,"  who  were  the  rulers  of  both  gods  and 
men  (Senec.  "Nat.  Quaest."  ii.  41). 

{Especially  to  Mania  (Macroh.  " Saturnalia,"  i.  7).  Human 
sacrifices  are  thought  to  be  represented  in  the  Etruscan  remains 
(Dennis,  "Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  190,  191). 

§  Lydns,  "  De  Ostentis,"  §-27;  Cic.  "De  Div."  ii.  23;  Ovid. 
**  Metamorph."  xv.  553-559,  etc. 


128  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETEUSCANS. 

Among  sacrificial  animals  were  included  the  bull,  the 
ass,  and  perhaps  the  wolf,  *  though  this  is  disputed.  The 
victim,  brought  by  an  individual  citizen,  was  always  offered 
by  a  priest,  and  libations  usually  accompanied  the  sacrifice. 
Unbloody  offerings  were  also  not  unfrequently  presented, 
aad  were  burnt  upon  the  altar,  like  the  victims,  f 

A  general  survey  of  the  Etruscan  remains  has  convinced 
the  most  recent  inquirers,  that  the  public  worship  of  the 
gods  in  the  temples,  which  were  to  be  found  in  all  Etruscan 
cities,  by  sacrifice,  libation,  and  adoration,  played  but  a 
very  small  part  in  the  religious  life  of  the  nation.  "  The 
true  temples  of  the  Etruscans,"  it  has  been  observed, 
"  were  their  tombs."J  Practically,  the  real  objects  of  their 
worship  were  the  Lares,  or  spirits  of  their  ancestors.  Each 
house  probably  had  its  lararium,§  \vhere  the  master  of  the 
household  offered  prayer  and  worship  every  morning,  and 
sacrifice  occasionally.  ||  And  each  family  certainly  had  its 
family  tornb,  constructed  on  the  model  of  a  house,  in  which 
the  spirits  of  its  ancestors  were  regarded  as  residing. 
"  The  tombs  themselves,"  we  are  told,  "  are  exact  imita- 
tions of  the  house.  There  is  usually  an  outer  vestibule,  ap- 
parently appropriated  to  the  annual  funeral  feast  :  from 
this  a  passage  leads  to  a  large  central  chamber,  which  is 
lighted  by  windows  cut  through  the  rock.  The  central  hall 
is  surrounded  by  smaller  chambers,  in  which  the  dead  re- 
pose. On  the  roof  we  see  carved  in  stone  the  broad  beam, 
or  roof-tree,  with  rafters  imitated  in  relief  on  either  side, 
and  even  imitations  of  the  tiles.  These  chambers  contain 
the  corpses,  and  are  furnished  with  all  the  implements, 
ornaments,  and  utensils  used  in  life.  The  tombs  are,  in 
fact,  places  for  the  dead  to  live  in.  The  position  and  sur- 
roundings of  the  deceased  are  made  to  approximate  as 
closely  as  possible  to  the  conditions  of  life.  The  couches 
on  which  the  corpses  repose  have  a  triclinial  arrangement, 

•  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  180,  190. 

t  Ihid  vol.  ii.  p.  191. 

t  Taylor,  "  Etruscan  Researches,"  P-  49. 

§  On  the  Roman  Inrariitni,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  adopted 
from  the  Etruscans,  see  an  article  in  Dr.  Smith's  "  Dictionary  of 
Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,"  pp.  (567.  f>(W,  2nd  edition. 

I!  In  the  Theodosian  Code  it  was  provided  that  no  one  should  any 
longer  worship  his  Inr  with  fire  ("  nullns  Larem  igne  veneretur  "),  or, 
in  other  words,  continue  to  sacrifice  to  him.  (See  Keightley's 
"  Mythology,"  p.  470.) 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     120 

and  are  furnished  with  cushions  carved  in  stone  ;  and  imi- 
tations of  easy-chairs  and  footstools  are  carefully  hewn  out 
of  the  rock.  Everything,  in  short,  is  arranged  as  if  the 
dead  were  reclining  at  a  banquet  in  their  accustomed  dwell- 
ings. On  the  floor  stand  wine-jars  ;  and  the  most  precious 
belongings  of  the  deceased — arms,  ornaments,  and  mirrors 
— hang  from  the  roof,  or  are  suspended  on  the  walls.  The 
walls  themselves  are  richly  decorated,  usually  being  painted 
with  representations  of  festive  scenes  ;  we  see  figures  in 
gaily-embi'oidered  garments  reclining  on  couches,  while  at- 
tendants replenish  the  goblets,  or  beat  time  to  the  music  of 
the  pipers.  Nothing  is  omitted  which  can  conduce  to  the 
amusement  or  comfort  of  the  deceased.  Their  spirits  were 
evidently  believed  to  inhabit  these  house-tombs  after  death, 
just  as  in  life  they  inhabited  their  houses."* 

The  tombs  were  not  permanently  closed.  Once  a  year 
at  least,  perhaps  oftener,  it  was  customary  for  the  surviving 
relatives  to  visit  the  resting-place  of  their  departed  dear 
ones,  to  carry  them  offerings  as  tokens  of  affectionate  regard, 
and  solicit  their  favor  and  protection.  The  presents  brought 
included  portrait-statues,  cups,  dishes,  lamps,  armor,  vases, 
mirrors,  gems,  seals,  and  jewellery.!  Inscriptions  frequently 
accompanied  the  offerings ;  and  these  show  that  the  gifts 
were  made,  not  to  the  spirit  of  the  tomb,  or  to  the  infernal 
gods,  or  to  any  other  deities,  but  to  the  persons  whose  re- 
mains were  deposited  in  the  sepulchres. |  Their  spirits  were 
no  doubt  regarded  as  conciliated  by  the  presents  ;  and, 
practically,  it  is  probable  that  far  more  value  was  attached 
to  the  fostering  care  of  these  nearly  allied  protectors  than 
to  the  favor  of  the  awful  gods  of  earth  and  heaven,  who 
were  distant  beings,  dimly  apprehended,  and  chiefly  known 
as  wielders  of  thunderbolts. 

As  a  whole,  the  Etruscan  religion  must  be  pronounced 
one  of  the  least  elevating  of  the  forms  of  ancient  belief.  It 
presented  the  gods  mainly  under  a  severe  and  forbidding 
aspect,  as  beings  to  be  dreaded  and  propitiated,  rather  than 
loved  and  worshipped.  It  encouraged  a  superstitious  re- 
gard for  omens  and  portents,  which  filled  the  mind  with 

•Taylor  "  Etruscan  Researches,"  pp.  40-48. 

t  Ibid.  pp.  271,  306,  etc. 

J  Without  accepting  all  Mr.  Taylor's  renderings  of  the  funeral 
inscriptions,  I  am  of  opinion  that  he  has  succeeded  in  establishing 
this  point. 


130  RELIGION  OF  THE  ETRUSCANS. 

foolish  alarms,  and  distracted  men  from  the  performance 
of  the  duties  of  every-day  life.  It  fostered  the  pride  and 
vanity  of  the  priestly  class  by  attributing  to  them  superhuman 
wisdom,  and  something  like  infallibility,  while  it  demora- 
lized the  people  by  forcing  them  to  cringe  before  a  selfish 
and  arrogant  hierarchy.  If  it  diminished  the  natural  tendency 
of  men  to  overvalue  the  affairs  of  this  transitory  life,  by 
placing  prominently  before  them  the  certainty  and  import- 
ance of  the  life  beyond  the  grave,  yet  its  influence  was  de- 
basing rather  than  elevating,  from  the  coarseness  of  the  rep- 
resentations which  it  gave  alike  of  the  happiness  and  misery 
of  the  future  state.  Where  the  idea  entertained  of  the 
good  man's  final  bliss  makes  it  consist  in  feasting  and 
carousing,*  and  the  suffering  of  the  lost  arises  from  the 
blows  and  wounds  inflicted  by  demons,  the  doctrine  of  future 
rewards  and  punishment  loses  much  of  its  natural  force,  and 
is  more  likely  to  vitiate  than  to  improve  the  moral  character. 
The  accounts  which  we  have  of  the  morality  of  the  Etruscans 
are  far  from  favorable  ;  f  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
the  vices  whereto  they  were  prone  did  not  receive  a  stimu- 
lus, rather  than  a  check,  from  their  religion. 

*  See  Dennis,  "  Cities  and  Cemeteries,"  vol.  i.  p.  294:  "  They  (the 
Etruscans)  believed  in  the  materiality  of  the  soul;  and  their  Elysium 
was  but  a  glorification  of  the  present  state  of  existence ;  the  same 
pursuits,  amusements,  and  pleasures,  they  had  relished  in  this  life 
they  expected  in  the  next,  but  divested  of  their  sting,  and  enhanced 
by  increased  capacities  of  enjoyment.  To  celebrate  the  great  event, 
to  us  so  solemn  (i.  e.,  death),  by  feast'ng  and  joviality,  was  not  with 
them  unbecoming.  They  knew  not  how  to  conceive  or  represent  a 
glorified  existence  otherwise  than  by  means  of  the  highest  sensual 
enjoyment."  (Compare  pp.  443-448. ) 

t  See  the  Author's  "  Origin  of  Nations,"  pp.  129,  130. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.     131 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RELIGION   OF    THE    ANCIENT    GREEKS. 

"  The  Greek  religion  was  the  result  of  the  peculiar  development 
and  history  of  the  Grecian  people." — DOLLIXGER,  Jew  and  Gentile, 
vol.  i.  p.  C8. 

THAT  "  in  general  the  Greek  religion  may  be  correctly 
described  as  a  worship  of  Nature  ;  and  that  most  of  its 
deities  corresponded  either  to  certain  parts  of  the  sensible 
world,  or  to  certain  classes  of  objects  comprehended  under 
abstract  notions,"  is  a  remark  of  Bishop  Thirlwall  *  in  which 
most  critics  at  the  present  day  will  acquiesce  with  readiness. 
Placed  in  a  region  of  marked  beauty  and  variety,  and  sym- 
pathizing strongly  with  the  material  world  around  him,  the 
lively  Greek  saw  in  the  object  with  which  he  was  brought  into 
contact,  no  inert  mass  of  dull  and  lifeless  matter,  but  a  crowd 
of  mighty  agencies,  full  of  a  wonderful  energy.  The  teem- 
ing earth,  the  quickening  sun,  the  restless  sea,  the  irresistible 
storm,  every  display  of  superhuman  might  which  he  beheld, 
nay,  all  motion  ami  growth,  impressed  him  with  the  sense 
of  something  living  and  working.  He  did  not,  however, 
like  his  Indian  brother,  deify  (as  a  general  rule)  the  objects 
themselves ;  or,  at  any  rate,  if  he  had  ever  done  so,  it  was 
in  a  remote  past,  of  which  language  alone  retained  the 
trace  ;  f  he  did  not,  in  the  times  in  which  he  is  really  known 
to  us,  worship  the  storm,  or  the  sun,  or  the  earth,  or  the 
ocean,  or  the  winds,  or  the  rivers,  but,  by  the  power  of  his 
imagination,  he  invested  all  these  things  with  personality. 
Everywhere  around  him,  in  all  the  different  localities,  and 
departments,  and  divisions,  and  subdivisions  of  the  physical 
world,  he  recognized  agencies  of  unseen  beings  endued  with 

•  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  217. 

t  Zeus  may  have  been  once  Dyaus,  "the  sky"  (Max  Miiller, , 
"Chips  from" a  German  Workshop,"  vol.  ii.  p.  72);  but  the  word 
very  early  "  became  a  proper  name  "  and  designated  a  person. 


132  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

life,  volition,  and  design.  Nature  was  peopled  for  him  with 
a  countless  multitude  of  such  invisible  powers,  some  inhabit- 
ing the  earth,  some  the  heaven,  some  the  sea,  some  the  dark 
and  dreadful  region  beneath  the  earth,  into  which  the  sun's 
rays  could  not  penetrate.  "  Of  such  beings,"  as  Mr.  Grote 
observes,*  "  there  were  numerous  varieties,  and  many  grada- 
tions both  in  power  and  attributes ;  there  were  differences 
of  age,  sex,  and  local  residence,  relations,  both  conjugal 
and  filial,  between  them,  and  tendencies  sympathetic  as  well 
as  repugnant.  The  gods  formed  a  sort  of  political  com- 
munity of  their  own,  which  had  its  hierarchy,  its  distributions 
of  ranks  and  duties,  its  contentions  for  power,  and  occa- 
sional revolutions,  its  public  meetings  in  the  agora  of 
Olympus,  and  its  multitudinous  banquets  or  festivals.  The 
great  Olympic  gods  were,  in  fact,  only  the  most  exalted 
amongst  an  aggregate  of  quasi-human  or  ultra-human  person- 
ages— daemons,  heroes,  nymphs,  eponymous  genii,  identified 
with  each  river,  mountain,  cape,  town,  village,  or  known  cir- 
cumscription of  territory,  besides  horses,  bulls,  and  dogs,  of 
immortalbreed  and  peculiar  attributes,  monsters  of  strange 
lineaments  and  combinations — 'Gorgons,  and  Hydras,  and 
Chinueras  dire ' — and  besides  '  gentile  and  ancestral  deities,' 
and  'peculiar  beings  whose  business  it  was  to  co-operate 
or  impede  in  the  various  stages  of  each  trade  or  business.' 

Numerous  additions  might  be  made  to  this  list.  Not 
only  had  each  mountain  chain  and  mountain-top  a  separate 
presiding  god  or  goddess,  but  troops  of  Oreads  inhabited 
the  mountain  regions,  and  disported  themselves  among 
them  ;  not  only  was  there  a  river-god  to  each  river,  a  Simois 
and  a  Scamander,  an  Enipeus  and  an  Achelotis,  but  every 
nameless  stream  and  brooklet  had  its  water  nymph,  every 
spring  and  fountain  its  naiad  ;  wood-nymphs  peopled  the 
glades  and  dells  of  the  forest  regions  ;  air-gods  moved  in 
the  zephyrs  and  the  breezes ;  each  individual  oak  had  its 
dryad.  To  the  gods  proper  were  added  the  heroes,  gods  of 
:i  lower  grade,  and  these  are  spoken  of  as  "  thirty  thousand 
in  number,  guardian  da>mons,  spirits  of  departed  heroes, 
who  are  continually  walking  over  earth,  veiled  in  darkness, 
watching  the  deeds  of  men,  and  dispensing  weal  or  woe."  f 

It  is  this  multiplicity  of  the  objects  of  worship,  together 

"  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  pp.  403-466. 

t  Thirlwall,  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  235.  Compare  Hesiod, 
"  Works  and  Days,"  1.  250 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      133 

with  their  lively  active  personality,  which  forms  the  first 
striking  feature  of  the  ancient  Greek  religion,  and  naturally 
attracts  the  attention  of  observers  in  the  first  instance. 
Nowhere  have  we  such  a  multitudinous  pantheon.  Not 
only  was  the  multiplicity  of  external  nature  reflected  in  the 
spiritual  world  as  in  a  mirror,  but  every  phase,  and  act,  and 
circumstance  of  human  life,  eveiy  quality  of  the  mind,  every 
attribute  of  the  body,  might  be,  generally  was,  personified, 
and  became  a  divine  being.  Sleep  and  Death,  Old  Age 
and  Pain,  Strength,  Force,  Strife,  Victory,  Battle,  Murder, 
Hunger,  Dreaming,  Memory,  Forgetfulness,  Lawlessness, 
Law,  Forethought,  Afterthought,  Grief,  Ridicule,  Retribu- 
tion, Recklessness,  Deceit,  Wisdom,  Affection,  Grace,  were 
gods  or  goddesses,  were  presented  to  the  mind  as  persons, 
and  had  their  place  in  the  recognized  Theogonies,*  or  sys- 
tematic arrangements  of  the  chief  deities  according  to 
supposed  relationship  and  descent.  Similarly,  the  facts  of 
Nature,  as  distinct  from  her  parts,  were  personified  and 
worshipped,  Chaos,  Day,  Night,  Time,  the  Hours,  Dawn, 
Darkness,  Lightning,  Thunder,  Echo,  the  Rainbow,  were 
persons — "persons,  just  as  much  as  Zeus  and  Apollo  "f — 
though  not  perhaps,  so  uniformly  regarded  in  this  light. 

Another  leading  feature  in  the  system  is  the  existence 
of  marked  gradations  of  rank  and  power  among  the  gods, 
who  fall  into  at  least  five  definite  classes,:}:  clearly  dis- 
tinguished the  one  from  the  other.  First  and  foremost  come 
the  Olympic  deities,  twelve  in  number,  six  male  and  six 
female,  but  not  as  a  rule  connected  together  in  pairs — Zeus, 
Poseidon,  Apollo,  Ares,  Hephaestus,  Hermes,  Hera,  Athen6, 
Artemis,  Aphrodite,  Hestia,  and  Demeter.  Next  in  order 
are  the  great  bulk  of  the  gods  and  goddesses,  Hades, 
Dionysus,  Cronus,  Uranus,  Hyperion,  Helios,  Nereus, 
Porteus,  ./Eolus,  Leto,  Dione,  Persephone,  Hecate,  Selen6, 
Themis,  Harmonia,  the  Graces,  the  Muses,  the  Fates,  the 
Furies,  the  Eileithyia),  the  Oceanids,  the  Nereids,  the 
Nymphs,  the  Naiads,  and  the  like.  In  the  third  rank  may 
be  placed  the  deities  who  act  as  attendants  on  the  greater 
gods,  and  perform  services  for  them,  Iris,  the  messenger  of 
Jove,  Hebe,  his  cup-bearer,  Kratos  and  Bia,  the  servants  of 

•Hesiod.  "  Theogon."  11.  114-264;  Apollodorus,  "Bibliotbeca," 
i.  l-«. 

t  Grote,  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  2. 
J  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  pp.  14, 15. 


134      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

Hephaestus,*  Boreas,  Nortus,  etc.,  subordinates  of  JEolus, 
the  Hours,  handmaids  of  Aphrodite,  etc.  Fourthly,  we 
may  name  the  more  shadowy  gods  and  goddesses,  Night, 
Day,  Ether,  Dawn,  Darkness,  Death,  Sleep,  Strife,  Memory, 
Fame,  Retribution,  Recklessness,  etc.,  who  do  not  often  ap- 
pear as  deities  except  in  poetry,  and  are  perhaps  rather 
personifications  consciously  made  than  real  substantive 
divinities.  Finally  must  be  mentioned  the  monstrous  births 
ascribed  to  certain  divine  unions  or  marriages,  e.  g.,  the 
Cyclopes,  and  Centimani,  the  off  spring  of  Earth  and  Heaven 
(Gaea  and  Uranus)  ;  the  Harpies,  daughters  of  Thaumas 
and  Electra,  one  of  the  Oceanidae  ;  the  Gorgons  and  Graea, 
children  of  Phorcys  and  Ceto  ;  Chrysaor  and  Pegasus,  born 
of  the  blood  of  Medusa,  when  she  was  slain  by  Perseus ; 
Geryon  and  Echidna,  sprung  from  Chrysaor  and  Callirrhoe ; 
Orthros,  the  two-headed  dog  of  Geryon,  born  of  Typhaon 
and  Echidna;  Cerberus,  the  dog  of  Hades,  with  fifty  heads; 
Scylla  and  Charybdis  ;  the  Lernaean  Hydra,  the  Sphinx  of 
Thebes,  the  Neiriean  Lion,  the  Dragon  of  the  Hesperides, 
the  Centaurs,  the  Chimaera,  etc.,  etc. 

The  chief  interest  naturally  attaches  to  the  gods  of  the 
First  Order,  those  commonly  denominated  "  Olympic  ;  " 
and,  in  a  work  like  the  present,  some  account  must  neces- 
sarily be  given  of  the  twelve  deities  who  constituted  the 
Olympian  council. 

ZEUS. 

At  the  head  of  all,  occupying  a  position  quite  unique 
and  unlike  that  of  any  other,  stood  the  great  Zeus.  Zeus 
is  "  the  God,  or,  as  he  is  called  in  later  times,  the  Father  of 
the  gods,  and  the  God  of  gods.  When  we  ascend  to  the 
most  distant  heights  of  Greek  history,  the  idea  of  God,  as 
the  Supreme  Being,  stands  before  us  as  a  simple  fact."f 
"  Zeus,"  said  an  ancient  poet,  "  is  the  beginning  ;  Zeus  the 
middle  ;  out  of  Zeus  have  all  things  been  made."  Zeus 
was  "  the  lord  of  the  upper  regions,  who  dwelt  on  the 
summits  of  the  highest  mountains,  gathered  the  'clouds  about 
him,  shook  the  air  with  his  thunder,  and  wielded  the  light- 
ning as  the  instrument  of  his  wrath.  From  elements  drawn 
from  these  different  sources  his  character,  a  strange  com- 

•See  ^schyl.  "Prom.  Vinct."  sub  init. 
t  Max  Muller,  "  Chips,"  vol.  ii.  p.  158. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.      135 

pound  of  strength  and  weakness,  seems  to  have  been  formed 
by  successive  poets,  who,  if  they  in  some  degree  deserved 
the  censure  of  the  philosophers,  seem  at  least  not  to  have 
been  guilty  of  any  arbitrary  h'ctions  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  by  establishing  his  supremacy  they  introduced  (?)  a 
principle  of  unity  into  the  Greek  polytheism,  which  was  not 
perhaps  without  influence  on  the  speculations  of  the  phil- 
osophers themselves,  though  it  exerted  little  on  the  super- 
stitions of  the  vulgar.  The  Olympian  deities  are  assembled 
round  Zeus  as  his  family,  in  which  he  maintains  the  mild 
dignity  of  a  patriarchal  king.  He  assigns  their  several 
provinces,  and  controls  their  authority.  Their  combined 
efforts  cannot  give  the  slightest  shock  to  his  power,  nor 
retard  the  execution  of  his  will  ;  and  hence  their  wayward- 
ness, even  when  it  incurs  his  rebuke,  cannot  ruffle  the  inward 
serenity  of  his  soul.  The  tremendous  nod,  wherewith  he 
confirms  his  decrees,  can  neither  be  revoked  nor  frustrated. 
As  his  might  is  irresistible,  so  is  his  wisdom  unsearchable. 
He  holds  the  golden  balance  in  which  are  poised  the  destinies 
of  nations  and  of  men  ;  from  the  two  vessels  that  stand  at 
his  threshold  he  draws  the  good  and  evil  gifts  that  alter- 
nately sweeten  and  embitter  mortal  existence.  The  eternal 
order  of  things,  the  ground  of  the  immutable  succession  of 
events,  is  his,  and  therefore  he  himself  submits  to  it. 
Human  laws  derive  their  sanction  from  his  ordinance  ;  earth- 
ly kings  receive  their  sceptre  from  his  hand  ;  he  is  the 
guardian  of  social  right  ;  he  watches  over  the  fulfilment  of 
contracts,  the  observance  of  oaths  ;  he  punishes  tieachery, 
arrogance,  and  cruelty.  The  stranger  and  the  suppliant  are 
under  his  peculiar  pi'otcction  ;  the  fence  that  encloses  the 
family  dwelling  is  in  his  keeping  ;  he  avenges  the  denial 
and  the  abuse  of  hospitality.  Yet  even  this  greatest  and 
most  glorious  of  beings,  as  he  is  called,  is  subject,  like  the 
other  gods,  to  passion  and  frailty.  For,  though  secure  from 
dissolution,  though  surpassingly  beautiful  and  strong,  and 
wanned  with  a  purer  blood  than  fills  the  veins  of  men,  their 
heavenly  frames  are  not  insensible  to  pleasure  and  pain  ; 
they  need  the  refreshment  of  ambrosial  food,  and  inhale  a 
grateful  savor  from  the  sacrifices  of  their  worshippers. 
Their  other  affections  correspond  to  the  grossness  of  these 
animal  appetites.  Capricious  love  and  hatred,  anger  and 
jealousy,  often  disturb  the  calm  of  their  bosoms  ;  the  peace 
of  the  Olympian  state  might  be  broken  by  factions,  and  even 


136  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS 

by  conspiracies  formed  against  its  chief.  He  himself  cannot 
keep  perfectly  aloof  from  their  quarrels  ;  he  occasionally 
wavers  in  his  purpose,  is  overruled  by  artifice,  blinded  by 
desires,  and  hurried  by  resentment  into  unseemly  violence. 
The  relation  in  which  he  stands  to  Fate  is  not  uniformly 
represented  in  the  Homeric  poems,  and  probably  the  poet 
had  not  formed  a  distinct  notion  of  it.  Fate  is  generally 
described  as  emanating  from  his  will,  but  sometimes  he  ap- 
pears to  be  no  more  than  the  minister  of  a  stern  necessity, 
which  he  wishes  in  vain  to  elude."  * 

And  Zeus  bears  to  man  the  relation  of  "  father."  Each 
mortal  who  has  a  supplication  to  make  to  him,  may  address 
him  as  lev  ndrep,  "  God  (our)  Father."  He  bears,  as  one 
of  his  most  usual  titles,  the  designation  of  "  Father  of  gods 
and  men."  As  St.  Paul  says,  f  quoting  a  Greek  poet,  "  we 
are  his  offspring."  The  entire  passage  where  these  words 
occur  is  remarkable,  and  very  instructive  on  the  Grecian  idea 
of  Zeus. 

"  With  Zeus  begin  we — let  no  mortal  voice 
Leave  Zeus  unpraised.    Zeus  fills  the  haunts  of  men, 
The  streets,  the  marts — Zeus  fills  the  sea,  the  shores, 
The  harhors — everywhere  we  live  in  Zeus. 
We  are  his  offspring  too;  friendly  to  man, 
He  gives  prognostics;  sets  men  to  their  toil 
By  need  of  daily  bread:  tells  when  the  land 
Must  be  upturned  by  ploughshare  or  by  spade — 
What  time  to  plant  the  olive  or  the  vine — 
What  time  to  fling  on  earth  the  golden  grain. 
For  He  it  was  who  scattered  o'er  the  sky 
The  shining  stars,  and  fixed  them  where  they  are — 
Provided  constellations  through  the  year, 
To  mark  tlie  seasons  in  their  changeless  course. 
Wherefore  men  worship  Him — the  First — the  Last — 
Their  Father— Wonderful— their  Help  and  Shield."  } 

A  pantheistic  tinge  pervades  this  description  ;  but  still 
in  parts  it  approaches  to  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
sublime  expressions  of  Holy  Writ.§  It  presents  Zeus  to  us 

•Thirlwall.  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  1.  pp.  217-219. 

t  Acts  xvii   28. 

t  Aratus,  ••  Phenomena,"  11.  1-15. 

§  Compare  "  everywhere  we  live  in  Zeus  "  with  "  in  Him  we  live, 
and  move,  and  have  our  being"  (Acts  xvii.  28) — the  provision  of 
constellations  with  Gen.  i  14 — the  term  "  Wonderful"  with  Isa.  ix.6 — 
"the  First,  the  Last"  with  Rev.  i.  8,  11,  etc."— "their  Help  and 
Shield  "  with  Psa.  xviii.  2;  xlvi.  1,  etc. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      137 

as  omnipresent,  beneficent,  worthy  of  perpetual  praise,  our 
father,  our  help  and  defence,  our  support  and  stay.  It  sets 
him  forth  as  "  wonderful,"  or  rather  "  a  mighty  wonder" — 
ptya  iJai)/i« — a  being  beyond  our  power  to  comprehend, 
whom  we  must  be  content  to  reverence  and  admire.  It 
recognizes  him  as  having  hung  the  stars  in  the  blue  vaul  to 
heaven,  and  having  set  them  there  "  for  signs,  and  for  sea- 
sons, and  for  days,  and  years."  It  calls  him  "  the  First  " 
the  Last " — the  Alpha  and  the  Omega  of  being. 

Such  is  the  strength  of  Zeus,  according  to  the  Greek 
idea  ;  but  withal  there  is  a  weakness  about  him,  which  sinks 
him,  not  only  below  the  "  Almighty  "  of  Scripture,  but 
even  below  the  Ormazd  of  the  Persians.  He  lias  a  material 
frame,  albeit  of  an  ethereal  and  subtle  fibre  ;  and  requires 
material  sustenance.  According  to  some  of  the  myths,  he 
was  born  in  time  ;  according  to  all,  he  was  once  a  god  of 
small  power.  Heaven  had  its  revolutions  in  the  Greek 
system :  and  as  the  sovereignty  of  Olympus  had  passed 
from  Uranus  to  Cronus  and  from  Cronus  to  Zeus  in  former 
times,  so  in  the  future  it  might  pass,  and  according  to  some, 
was  doomed  to  pass,  from  Zeus  to  another.*  Nor  was  he 
without  moral  defect.  A  rebellious  son,  a  faithless  husband, 
not  always  a  kind  father,  he  presented  to  the  moral  con- 
sciousness no  perfect  pattern  for  man's  imitation,  but  a 
strange  and  monstrous  combination  of  wickedness  with  high 
qualities,  of  weakness  with  strength,  of  good  with  evil.f 

POSEIDON. 

Poseidon  is  reckoned  as  the  second  of  the  Olympic 
gods,  rather  as  being,  in  the  mythology,  the  brother  of 
Zeus,  than  from  any  superiority  of  his  own  over  the  rest  of 
the  Olympians. t  He  is  viewed  as  especially  the  god  of  the 
sea,  and  is  worshipped  chiefly  by  maritime  states  and  in 
cities  situated  on  or  near  the  coast  ;  but  he  has  also  a  con- 
siderable hold  upon  the  land,  and  is  "  earth-shaking  "  and 
M  earth-possessing,"  quite  as  decidedly  as  sovereign  ruler  of 

*  ^Eschyl.  "  Prom.  Vinci."  II.  939-959. 

t  Compare  Sir.  Gladstone's  remarks  in  his  "  Homer  and  the 
Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  186-190. 

t  Poseidon  claims  in  the  "  Iliad  "  an  authority  within  his  own 
domain  independent  of  Zeus  ("  Iliad,"  xv.  174  et  »eqq-),  but  exer- 
cises no  right  of  rule  over  any  other  god. 


138  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

the  seas  and  ocean.  His  worship  is  ancient,  and  in  many 
places  has  given  way  to  an  introduction  of  later  and  more 
fashionable  deities.  It  has  traces  of  a  rudeness  and  rough- 
ness that  are  archaic,  and  stands  connected  with  the  more 
grotesque  and  barbarous  element  in  the  religion.  "  Among 
his  companions  are  wild  Titans  and  spiteful  daemons,"  * 
human  sacrifices  are  offered  to  him  ;  horses  are  buried  alive 
in  his  honor.  Polyphemus  the  Cyclops,  whom  Ulysses  pun- 
ishes, is  his  son  ;  and  his  offspring  generally  are  noted  for 
huge  size  and  great  corporeal  strength. f  It  has  been  main- 
tained that  his  cult  was  of  foreign  origin,  having  been  in- 
troduced among  the  Greeks  by  the  Carians,t  or  by  the  Lib- 
yans ;  §  but  there  are  no  sufficient  grounds  for  these  refine- 
ments, or  for  separating  off  Poseidon  from  the  bulk  of 
Olympic  deities,  admittedly  of  native  growth,  and  having  a 
general  family  resemblance.  If  Poseidon  is  cast  in  a  ruder 
and  rougher  mould  than  most  of  the  others,  we  may  account 
for  it  by  the  character  of  his  element,  and  the  boisterous- 
ness  of  sailors,  who  were  at  all  times  his  principal  worship- 
pers. Poseidon's  roughness  is  compensated  for  by  a 
solidity  and  strength  of  character,  not  too  common  among 
the  Grecian  deities  ;  he  is  not  readily  turned  from  his  pur- 
pose ;  blandishments  have  little  effect  upon  him  ;  failure 
does  not  discourage  him  ;  lie  is  persistent,  and  generally, 
though  not  always,  successful.  His  hostility  to  Troy, 
arising  from  his  treatment  by  Laomedon,  conduced  greatly 
toward  that  city's  destruction  ;  and  the  offence  which  he 
took  at  the  decision  of  Erechtheus  led  to  the  final  overthrow 
of  that  hero's  family.  On  the  other  hand,  his  persecu- 
tion of  Ulysses,  on  account  of  the  chastisement  which  he 
had  inflicted  on  Polyphemus,  does  not  prevent  the  final 
return  of  that  much-enduring  wanderer  to  Ithaca,  nor 
does  his  opposition  succeed  in  hindering  the  settlement  of 
./Eneas,  with  his  Trojan  companions,  in  Latium.  For" 
grandeur  and  sublimity  of  character  and  position  Poseidon 
cannot  compare  with  Zeus,  whom  however,  he  sometimes 
ventures  to  beard  ;  ||  in  respect  of  moral  conduct  he  is  in  no 

*  Curtlus,  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  56. 
t  Hom.  "Odyssey,"  xi.  505-520. 

t  Curtius,  vol.  i.  p.  298:  "The  Carlans  introduced  [into  Greece] 
the  worship  of  the  Carian  Zeus,  and  of  Poseidon." 
§  Herod,  ii.  50;  iv.  188. 
Hom.  "Iliad,"  xv.  175. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      139 

•way  Zeus's  superior  ;  in  respect  of  intellectual  elevation  he 
falls  decidedly  below  him. 

APOLLO. 

The  conception  of  Apollo  as  the  sun  is  a  late  form  of 
Hellenic  belief,  and  must  be  wholly  put  aside  when  we  are 
considering  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  Apollo 
seems  to  have  been  originally,  like  Zeus,  a  representation  of 
the  one  God,  originating  probably  in  some  part  of  Greece 
where  Zeus  was  unknown,*  and  subsequently  adopted  into 
the  system  prevalent  in  Homeric  times,  and  in  this  system 
subordinated  to  Zeus  ER  his  son  and  interpreter.  Com- 
pared  with  Zeus,  he  is  a  spiritualized  conception.  Zeus  is 
the  embodiment,  of  creative  energy  and  almighty  power  : 
Apollo  of  divine  prescience,  of  healing  skill,  and  of  musical 
and  poetic  production.  "  In  Apollo  Hellenic  polytheism 
received  its  harmonious  completion,  and  the  loftiest  glorifi- 
cation of  which  it  was,  capable."! 

Apollo  rises  on  the  vision  of  one  familiar  with  Greek 
antiquity  as  almost  y.  pure  conception,  almost  an  angelic 
divinity.  To  a  fo'-^n  of  ideal  beauty,  combining  youthful 
grace  and  vigcr  with  the  fullest  perfection  of  manly  strength, 
he  added  unerring  wisdom,  complete  insight  into  futurity, 
an  unstained  lite,t  the  magic  power  of  song,  ability  and 
will  to  save  and  heal,  together  with  the  dread  prerogative 
of  dealing  out  at  his  pleasure  destruction  and  death.  Com- 
passionate on  occasions  as  Mercy  herself,  he  shows  at  times 
the  keen  and  awful  severity  of  a  destroying  archangel. 
Ekebolos,  "  striking  from  afar,"  he  speeds  his  fatal  shafts 
from  his  unfailing  bow,  and  smites  whomsoever  he  will  with 
a  deathstroke  which  there  is  no  escaping.  Never  offended 
without  cause,  never  moved  by  caprice,  he  works  the  will 
of  Zeus  in  all  that  he  does,  dispenses  retributive  justice,  and 
purifies  with  wholesome  fear  the  souls  of  men.  Partaker 
of  nil  the  counsels  of  his  father,  and  permitted  to  use  his 
discretion  in  communicating  them  to  the  denizens  on  earth, 
he  delivers  his  oracular  responses  from  the  various  spots 

•Curtius  suggests  Lycia  or  Crete  ("  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i. 
p.  59). 

t  Ibid. 

t  See  this  point  discussed  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  "Homer  and  the 
Homeric  Age,"  (vol.  ii.  pp.  106-111). 


140  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

which  he  has  chosen  as  his  special  abodes,  and,  though 
sometimes  his  replies  may  be  of  doubtful  import,  seldom 
sends  away  a  votary  unsatisfied.  The  answers  which  he 
gives,  or  at  any  rate  is  supposed  to  give,  determine  the 
decisions  of  statesmen,*  and  shape  the  course  of  history. 
War  and  peace,  treaties  and  alliances,  are  .made  and  un- 
made, as  the  Delphic  and  other  oracles  inspired  by  him 
advise ;  and  the  course  of  Hellenic  colonization  is  almost 
entirely  determined  by  his  decrees. f 

Poet,  prophet,  physician,  harper,  god  of  victory  and 
angel  of  death  in  one,  Apollo  is  always  on  the  side  of  right, 
always  true  to  Zeus,  and  not  much  inferior  to  him  in  power. 
It  is,  perhaps,  a  fanciful  analogy  which  has  been  traced 
between  him  and  the  Second  Person  of  the  Christian 
Trinity  ;  t  but  the  very  fact  that  such  an  analogy  can  be 
suggested  is  indicative  of  the  pure  and  lofty  character  of  the 
god,  which  equals  at  any  rate,  if  it  does  not  transcend,  the 
highest  idea  of  divinity  that  has  hitherto  been  elaborated  by 
unassisted  human  wisdom. 


ARES. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  Ares  is  "  the  impersonation  of 
a  passion."  That  combative  propensity,  which  man  pos- 
sesses in  common  with  a  large  number  of  animals,  was  re- 
garded by  the  Greeks,  not  only  as  a  divine  thing,  but  as  a 
thing  of  such  lofty  divinity  that  its  representative  must 

*  Herod,  vii.  140-143. 

t  Ibid.  iv.  150-159;  v.  42,  etc. 

J  Friedriech  says:  "  This  triad  of  Zeus,  Athene  and  Apollo  bears 
an  unmistakable  analogy  to  the  Christian  Trinity  of  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost :  Zeus  answering  to  God  the  Father,  Athene  to  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  Apollo  to  the  Son  of  God,  the  Declarer  of  the  will  of 
hi*  Heavenly  Father  "  ("  Die  Realien  in  der  Iliacle  und  Odysspp."  part 
iii.  pp.  035  and  089).  Mr.  Gladstone  came  independently  to  the  same 
conclusion,  and  says: — "In  Apollo  are  represented  the  leprndn^ 
anticipations  of  aperson  to  come,  in  whom  should  be  combined  all  the 
f;reat  offices  in  which  God  the  Son  is  now  made  known  to  man,  as 
the  Light  of  our  paths,  the  Physician  of  our  diseases,  the  Judge  of 
our  misdeeds,  and  the  Conqueror  and  Disarmer,  but  not  yet  Abolisher, 
of  Death,"  ("  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  p.  132).  Profes- 
sor Max  Miiller,  on  the  other  hand,  thinks  that  "  it  seems  blasphemy 
to  consider  the  fables  of  the  heathen  world  as  corrupted  and  mis- 
interpreted fragments  of  a  divine  revelation  once  granted  to  the  whole 
of  mankind"  ("Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,"  vol.  il.  p.  13). 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      141 

have  a  place  among  the  deities  of  the  first  class  or  order. 
The  propensity  itself  was  viewed  as  common  to  man  with 
the  gods,  and  as  having  led  to  "  wars  in  heaven,"  wherein 
all  the  greater  deities  had  borne  their  part.  Now  that  peace 
was  established  in  the  Olympian  abode,  it  found  a  vent  on 
earth,  and  caused  the  participation  of  the  gods  in  the  wars 
carried  on  among  mortals.  Ares  was  made  the  son  of  Zeus 
and  Hera,  the  king  and  queen  of  heaven.  He  was  repre- 
sented as  tall,  handsome,  and  active,  but  as  cruel,  lawless, 
ami  greedy  of  blood.  The  finer  elements  of  the  warlike 
spirit  are  not  his.  He  is  a  divine  Ajax,*  rather  than  a 
divine  Achilles ;  and  the  position  which  he  occupies  in  the 
Olympian  circle  is  low.  Apollo  and  Athene  are  both  en- 
titled to  give  him  their  orders;  and  Athene  scolds  him, 
strikes  him  senseless,  and  wounds  him  through  the  spear  of 
Diomed.f  His  worship  is  thought  to  have  been  derived 
from  Thrace, t  and  to  have  been  introduced  into  Greece  only 
a  little  before  the  time  of  Horner.§  It  was  at  no  time  very 
widely  spread,  or  much  affected  by  any  Grecian  tribe  or 
state,  the  conception  being  altogether  too  coarse  to  attract 
the  sympathies  of  a  refined  people. 

HEPHAESTUS. 

Hephaestus  is  the  god  of  fire,  and  especially  of  her  in 
connection  with  smelting  and  metallurgy.  He  dwells  in 
Lemnos,  where  he  habitually  forges  thunderbolts  for  Zeus, 
and  occasionally  produces  fabrics  in  metal  of  elaborate  and 
exquisite  construction.  Among  the  most  marvellous  of  his 
works  are  the  automatic  tripods  of  Olympus  and  the  bronze 
maidens,  whom  he  has  formed  to  be  his  attendants  on 
account  of  his  lameness.  He  is  the  armorer  of  heaven,  and 
provides  the  gods  generally  with  the  weapons  which  they 
use  in  warfare.  The  peculiarity  of  his  lameness  is  strange 
and  abnormal,  since  the  Greeks  hate  deformity,  and  repre- 
sent their  deities  generally  as  possessed  of  perfect  physical 

*  Mr.  Gladstone  says,  "  not  so  much  an  Ajax  as  a  Caliban  " 
("  Homer  and  the  ilomeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  p.  228);  but  is  not  this  too 
harsh  a  view,  even  of  the  Homeric  conception  of  Ares  ? 

t  Horn.  "Iliad,"  v.  885-887;  xv.  110-142,  etc. 

t  Dollinger,  Jew  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i.  p.  88. 

§  Gladstone,  "  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  22»- 
231. 


142  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

beauty.  It  has  been  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that 
he  is  a  Grecized  Phthah,*  introduced  from  Egypt,  directly 
or  indirectly,t  and  that  his  deformity  is  a  modification  of 
Phthah's  presentment  as  a  pigmy  with  the  lower  limbs  mis- 
shapen. But  the  features  common  to  Hephaestus  with 
Phthah  are  few;  the  name  of  Hephaestus  is  probably  of  pure 
Greek  etymology,  connected  with  £<*«?  and  ^ at'vw  ;  and, 
on  the  whole,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  evidence  that  He- 
phasstus  is  a  foreign  god  more  than  any  other.  Rather  j  it  is 
characteristic  of  the  many  sidedness  of  the  Greeks,  and  con- 
sequent upon  the  anthropomorphism  which  makes  the 
Olympic  community  a  reflection  of  earthly  things,  that  there 
should  be  even  in  this  august  conclave  something  provoca- 
tive of  laughter,  a  discord  to  break  the  monotony  of  the 
harmony,  an  element  of  grotesqueness  and  monstrosity. 
Hephffistus  in  the  Olympic  halls  is  like  the  jester  at  the 
court  of  a  medieval  monarch,  a  something  to  lighten  the 
seriousness  of  existence,  to  provoke  occasionally  a  burst  of 
that  "  inextinguishable  laughter,"  without  which  life  in  so 
sublime  an  atmosphere  would  be  intolerable.  The  marriage 
of  Hephaastus  to  Aphrodit6  is  conceived  in  the  same  spirit. 
There  was  a  keen  sense  of  humor  in  the  countrymen  of 
Aristophanes  ;  and  the  combination  of  the  clumsy,  Irme,  and 
begrimed  smith  with  the  Queen  of  Beauty  and  Love  pleased 
their  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and  was  the  fertile  source  of 
many  an  amusing  legend.  "  The  Lay  of  the  Net,"  where- 
with Demodocus  entertains  both  gods  and  men,*  is  a  suffi- 
cient specimen  of  this  class  of  lively  myth,  and  shows  that 
the  comic  features  of  ill-assorted  marriage,  on  which  modern 
playwrights  have  traded  so  freely,  were  fully  appreciated  by 
the  Greeks,  and  were  supposed  well-suited  to  provoke  the 
gods  to  merriment.  The  modern  moralist  will  regret  this 
unworthy  representation  of  divine  beings;  t  but  it  is  quite 
in  accord  with  the  general  character  of  the  Greek  religion, 
which  reflected  back  upon  deity  all  that  was  weak,  as  well 
as  all  that  was  strong,  in  man. 

•Sir  G.  \yilkinson  in  Rawlinson's  "Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  139, 
note  (3rd  edition). 

t  Mr.  Gladstone  regards  him  as  introduced  from  Phoenicia 
("  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol  ii.  p.  255). 

I  Horn.  "  Odyss."  v.  iii.  2(50-300. 

§  "  iloiner  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  401-463. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      143 


HERMES. 

Hermes  is  the  impersonation  of  commercial  dealings, 
and  hence  a  god  who  gives  wealth  and  increase,  a  god  of 
inventive  power,  and  a  god  of  tricks  and  thievery.  He  is 
u  the  Olympian  man  of  business,"  *  and  therefore  employed 
in  embassies  and  commissions,  and  even  sometimes  in  the 
simple  carrying  of  messages.  As  turup  fauv,  f  "the  'giver 
of  comforts,"  he  secures  his  votaries  all  manner  of  worldly 
prosperity.  He  is  industrious  and  inventive,  constructs 
the  seven-stringed  lyre  before  he  is  a  day  old,  t  afterward 
invents  the  pan's-pipes,  and  ultimately  becomes  a  god  of 
wisdom  and  learning  generally.  His  thievishness  must  be 
taken  to  show  that  commercial  fraud  is  pretty  well  as 
ancient  as  commerce  itself,  and  that  "  the  good  old  times  " 
were  not,  as  sometimes  represented,  an  age  of  innocence. 
It  has  been  said  that  he  is  more  human  than  any  other 
Olympian  god  ;  and  that  "  he  represents,  so  to  speak,  the 
utilitarian  side  of  the  human  mind,"  §  being  active,  ener- 
getic, fruitful  in  resource,  a  keen  bargainer,  a  bold  story- 
teller, and  a  clever  thief.  His  admission  into  the  number 
of  the  Olympians  is  the  strongest  possible  indication  of 
the  inferiority  of  the  moral  standard  among  the  Greeks. 
The  special  regard  paid  to  him  by  the  Athenians  is,  how- 
ever, perhaps  the  mere  consequence  of  their  addiction  to 
the  pursuits  of  commerce. 

Hermes  is  commonly  represented  as  a  youth  just  at- 
taining to  manhood.  The  wings  which  adorn  his  head 
and  ankles  indicate  the  celerity  of  his  movements.  His 
ttdaceus  is  perhaps  the  golden  rod  of  wealth  given  to 
him  by  Apollo  in  exchange  for  the  lyre.  It  represents 
also  the  staff  commonly  borne  by  heralds,  and  in  this  point 
of  view  had  white  ribbons  attached  to  it,  which  in  later 
times  became  serpents.  Sometimes  he  holds  a  purse  in 
his  hand,  to  mark  his  power  of  bestowing  riches. 

The  six  female  Olympic  deities — Hera,  Athene,  Artemis, 

*  Dollinger,  "  Jew  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i.  p.  74. 

t  Horn.  "  Odyss.  viii.  335.     Compare  "  Iliad,"  xiv.  490. 

t  Horn.  "  Hym.  Merc."  1.  16. 

§  "Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  p.  242. 


144  .         EELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  G SEEKS. 

Aphrodite,  Hestia,   and  Demeter — have   now  to   be  con 
sidered. 

HERA. 

The  anthropomorphism  which  was  so  main  an  element 
In  the  Greek  religion  made  it  requisite  that  motherhood,  as 
well  as  fatherhood,  should  be  enthroned  in  the  Olympic 
sphere,  that  Zeus  should  have  his  consort,  heaven  its  queen, 
and  women  their  representative  in  the  highest  celestial 
position.  Hera  was,  perhaps,  originally  Era,  "  the  Earth ;  "  * 
but  this  idea  was  soon  lost  sight  of,  and  in  Greek  mythology, 
from  first  to  last,  she  is  quite  other  than  the  principle  of 
mundane  fecundity,  quite  a  different  being  from  the  ori- 
ental earth-goddess,  called  indifferently  Cybele,  Dindymene, 
Magna  Mater,  Rhea,  Beltis,  Mylitta,  etc.  Hera  is,  pri- 
marily, the  wife  of  Zeus,  the  queen  of  the  Olympic  court, 
the  mistress  of  heaven.  She  is  "a  reflected  image  of 
Zeus"  t  Jind  exercises  all  her  husband's  prerogatives,  thun- 
ders, shakes  Olympus,  makes  Iris  her  messenger,  gives  her 
orders  to  the  Winds  and  the  Sun,  confers  valor,  and  the 
like.  As  the  personification  of  maternity,  she  presides 
over  child-birth ;  and  the  Eileithyia3,  her  daughters,  act  as 
her  ministers.  She  does  not  present  to  us  an  elevated 
idea  of  female  perfection,  since,  despite  her  exalted  rank, 
she  is  subject  to  numerous  feminine  infirmities.  Mr.  Grote 
notes  that  she  is  "proud,  jealous,  and  bitter." J  Mr. 
Gladstone  observes  that  she  is  passionate,  wanting  in  moral 
elevation,  cruel,  vindictive,  and  unscrupulous. §  Her  myth- 
ological presentation  was  certainly  not  of  a  nature  to 
improve  the  character  of  those  women  who  might  take 
her  for  their  model ;  since,  although  she  was  possessed  of 
certain  great  qualities,  passion,  fervor,  strong  affection, 
self-command,  courage,  acuteness,  yet  she  was,  on  the 
whole,  wanting  in  the  main  elements  of  female  excellence, 
gentleness,  softness,  tenderness,  patience1,  submission  to 
wrong,  self-renunciation,  reticence.  She  was  a  proud, 

*  See  Mr.  Gladstone's  *'  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  p. 
190.  Others  suggest  a  connection  with  heron,  herus,  hera,  and  so  with 
the  German  /terr,  and  our  air 

t  "  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii  p.  194. 

|  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  50. 
"  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  190-196. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     145 

grand,  haughty,  powerful  queen ;  not  a  kind,  helpful,  per- 
suasive,  loving  woman.  The  mythology  of  Greece  is  in 
few  points  less  satisfactory  than  in  the  type  of  femalo 
character  which  it  exhibits  at  the  head  of  its  pantheon. 

ATHENK. 

If  Hera  is  below  the  level  of  female  excellence  which 
we  might  have  expected  refined  heathens  to  have  repre- 
sented in  a  chief  goddess,  Athene  is  above  the  level.  She 
has  a  character  which  is  without  a  flaw.  Originally,  as  it 
would  seem,  a  conscious  impersonation  of  the  divine  wis- 
dom, and  therefore  fabled  to  have  sprung  full-grown  from 
the  head  of  Zeus,  she  became  a  distinct  and  substantive 
deity  at  a  very  early  date,  and  was  recognized  as  the  "god- 
dess of  wisdom,  war,  polity,  and  industrial  art."  *  Homer 
places  her,  together  with  Zeus  and  Apollo,  on  a  higher 
platform  of  divinity  than  the  other  deities,f  and  makes  her 
even  oppose  Zeus  when  he  is  in  the  wrong,  thwart  him, 
and  vindicate  right  and  truth  in  his  despite.J  It  has  been 
said  that  she  is  "  without  feminine  sympathies — the  type  of 
composed,  majestic,  and  unrelenting  force ; "  §  and  this  is 
so  far  true  that  she  has  certainly  little  softness,  absolutely 
no  weakness,  and  not  many  distinctly  feminine  character- 
istics. But  she  was  recognized,  like  her  Egyptian  counter- 
part, Xeith,  as  the  goddess  of  good  housewifery,  "  patron- 
izing handicraft,  and  expert  at  the  loom  and  spindle,"  \\  no 
less  than  as  the  wise  directress  of  statesmen  and  warriors. 
Undoubtedly,  the  atmosphere  in  which  she  removed  was 
too  cold,  calm,  and  clear  for  her  ever  to  have  attached  to 
herself  any  very  large  share  of  human  sympathy;  but  she 
oxrivised  an  elevating  influence  on  the  nobler  spirits  of 
both  sexes,  as  combining  the  three  attributes  of  purity, 
strength,  and  wisdom  in  the  highest  possible  degree,  and  so 
furnishing  at  once  a  model  for  imitation,  and  a  support  and 
stay  for  feeble  souls  in  the  spirit  world,  where  they  had 
otherwise  little  on  which  they  could  place  any  firm  reliance. 

*  "  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age."  vol.  ii.  p.  59. 
t  Horn.  "  Iliad,"  ii.  371;  iv.  288;  vii.   132,  etc.;  "  Odyss."  iv.  341; 
xv.  ii.  132,  etc. 

t  "  Iliad,"  viii.  30-40, 

$  (Jrote,  "  History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  47. 

D  bid., I  vol.  p.  47. 


146  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

The  universally-received  myth  of  Mentor  and  Telemachui 
acted  as  a  strong  reinforcement  to  the  power  of  conscience, 
which  the  young  Greek  felt  might  be  the  voice  of  Athene 
speaking  within  him,  advising  him  for  his  true  good,  and 
pointing  out  to  him  the  path  of  honor  and  duty.  Athene's 
special  connection  with  Athens  and  Attica  added  much  to 
her  importance  in  the  Greek  religious  system,  since  it 
brought  the  best  minds  and  most  generous  natures  of 
Hellas  peculiarly  under  the  influence  of  a  thoroughly  high 
and  noble  religious  conception. 

ARTEMIS. 

Artemis  is  altogether  a  shadowy  divinity.  She  is  a  "  pale 
reflection  of  her  brother,"  *  Phoebus  Apollo,  whose  attributes 
she  reproduces  in  a  subdued  form,  being,  like  him,  majestic, 
pure,  chaste,  a  minister  of  death,  and  a  dexterous  archer. 
Nothing  is  peculiar  to  her  except  her  presidency  over 
hunting,  which  determined  her  general  presentation  to  the 
eye  by  the  Greek  artists.  She  embodied  and  personified 
that  passion  for  the  chase  which  was  common  to  the 
Hellenes  with  most  energetic  races.  It  was  supposed  that 
she  dwelt  mainly  upon  earth,  haunting  the  forests  and  the 
mountains,  dressed  as  a  huntress,  and  accompanied  by  her 
favorite  hounds.  Her  connection  with  the  moon  Avas  an 
afthcr-thought  in  the  Greek  mythology,  as  was  that  of 
Apollo  with  the  sun.  It  arose  mainly  from  the  fact  that 
hunters,  to  be  successful,  had  to  commence  their  operations 
by  night,  and  needed  the  light  of  the  moon  in  order  to 
make  their  arrangements. 

The  Artemis  of  Ephesus  was  the  embodiment  of  a  dif- 
ferent idea.|  She  took  the  place  of  the  great  Asiatic 
Nature-goddess— Cybele,  Rhea,  Magna  Mater,  Beltis,  Mylitta 
— and  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  Artemis  of  Hellas 
proper  but  the  name.  •'  Her  image,  shaped  like  a  mummy, 
was. of  black  wood  ;  the  upper  part  of  the  body  was  orna- 
mented with  the  breasts  of  animals,  the  lower  with  figures 
of  them. "|  She  was  a  mere  impersonation  of  the  principle 
of  fecundity  in  nature — "a  Pantheistic  deity,  with  more 
of  an  Asiatic  than  Hellenic  character."§ 

*  "  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  p.  1-18. 

t  Grote,  "History  of  Greece,"  vol.  i.  p.  48. 

J  Dollinger,  "  Jew  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i  p.  86.  §  Idid. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      147 

APHRODITE. 

Aphrodite  is  the  antithesis,  and  in  some  sort  complement, 
of  Athene.  She  is  the  impersonation  of  all  that  is  soft  and 
weak  and  erring  in  female  nature,  as  Athen6  is  of  all  that 
is  high  and  pure  and  strong.  Goddess  of  beauty  and  love, 
not,  however,  of  love  in  its  more  elevated  form,  but  rather 
of  sensual  desire,  she  was  received  by  the  Greeks  probably 
from  an  Asiatic  source,  but  so  transmuted  and  Hellenized 
as  to  have  become,  when  we  first  meet  with  her,  a  com- 
pletely national  divinity.*  Hellenic  in  the  whole  character 
of  her  beauty,  she  is  well  described  by  a  living  English 
poetf  in  a  passage  which  is  eminently  classical : — 

"Idalian  Aphrodite  beautiful, 
Fresh  as  the  foam,  new  bathed  in  Paphian  wells, 
With  rosy  slender  fingers  backward  drew 
From  her  warm  brow  and  bosom  her  deep  hair 
Ambrosial,  golden  round  her  lucid  throat 
And  shoulder  :  from  the  violets  her  light  foot 
Shone  rosy  white,  and  o'er  her  rounded  form, 
Between  the  shadows  of  the  vine-branches, 
Floated  the  golden  sunlight  as  she  moved." 

Nothing  so  lovely  in  form  and  color  and  texture  and 
combination  of  rare  charms,  graced  the  splendid  chambers 
of  the  Olympian  court — nothing  so  ravishing  had  ever  pre- 
sented itself  to  the  vision  of  painter  or  poet.  But  the 
beauty  was  altogether  physical,  sensuous,  divorced  alike 
from  moral  goodness  and  mental  power.  Silly  and  childish, 
easily  tricked  and  imposed  upon  Aphrodite  is  mentally  con- 
temptible, while  morally  she  is  odious.  Tyrannical  over 
the  weak,  cowardly  before  the  strong,  frail  herself,  and  the 
persistent  stirrer  up  of  frailty  in  others,  lazy,  deceitful, 
treacherous,  selfish,  shrinking  from  the  least  touch  of  pain, 
shf  repels  the  moral  sentiment  with  a  force  almost  equal  to 
that  wherewith  she  attracts  the  lower  animal  nature.  Hence 
the  Greek  cannot  speak  of  her  without  the  most  violent 
eontlict  of  feeling.  He  is  drawn  to  her,  but  he  detests  her; 
he  is  fascinated,  yet  revolted  ;  he  admires,  yet  he  despises 

*  Mr.  Gladstone  takes  a  different  view.  He  regards  the  Aphro- 
dite" of  Homer  as  scarcely  a  Greek  divinity,  ("Homer  and  the 
Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  244,  245).  But  to  me  it  seems  that,  even 
in  Homer,  her  character  is  as  thoroughly  Greek  as  her  uame. 

t  See  Tennyson's  "  (Euone,"  11.  170-173. 


148  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

and  condemns ;  and  his  condemnation,  on  the  whole,  out- 
weighs his  admiration.     He  calls  her. 

"  A  goddess  verily  of  many  names — 
Not  Cypris  only,  but  dark  Hades,  too, 
And  Force  resistless,  and  mad,  frantic  Eage, 
And  sheer  untempered  Craving,  and  shrill  Grief."  * 

He  allows,  but  he  rebels  against  her  power  over  him  ; 
he  protests  even  when  he  surrenders  himself ;  and  hence, 
on  the  whole,  Aphrodite  exercises  a  less  corrupting  influence 
in  Greece  than  might  have  been  anticipated.  That  the 
pantheon  should  contain  a  goddess  of  the  kind  was  of  course 
to  some  extent  debasing.  Bad  men  could  justify  themselves 
by  the  divine  example,  and  plead  powerlessness  to  resist  a 
divine  impulse.  But  their  conscience  was  not  satisfied ; 
they  felt  they  sinned  against  their  higher  nature ;  and  thus, 
after  all,  the  moral  standard  was  not  very  seriously  affected 
by  the  existence  of  the  Cyprian  goddess  among  the  Olympic 
deities. 

HESTIA. 

Hestia  is  still  more  shadowy  than  Artemis.  She  is,  in 
part,  the  femine  counterpart  of  Hepha?stus,  the  goddess  of 
fire ;  but  she  is  principally  the  impersonation  of  the  sacred 
character  of  each  hearth  and  home,  whether  domestic, 
tribal,  or  national.  Hestia  presided  over  the  private  hearths 
and  homesteads  of  all  Greeks,  over  the  Prytaneia  of  cities, 
and  over  the  altars  kept  ablaze  in  the  temples  which  were 
centres  of  confederacies.  She  invested  them  with  a  sacred 
character,  watched  over  them,  protected  them.  Her  per- 
sonality was  but  slightly  developed.  Still  she  seems  to 
have  been  regarded  as  possessing,  to  a  remarkable  extent, 
the  qualities  of  holiness  and  purity ;  and  thus  to  have  prac- 
tically maintained  in  Greek  domestic  life  a  high  and  pure  stan- 
dard, such  as  has  scarcely  been  much  exceeded  among  Chris- 
tians. She  was  fabled  to  have  vowed  perpetual  virginity ; 
and  it  is  clear  that,  together  with  Athene  and  Artemis,  she 
upheld  among  the  Greeks  the  idea  of  virginal  purity  as  a  tran- 
scendental phase  of  life,  a  moral  perfection  whereto  the 
best  and  purest  might  not  only  aspire,  but  attain,  as  the  re- 
sult of  earnest  endeavor. 

*  Sophocl.  Fragm.  xxiii.  (ed.  Brunck.) 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      149 


DEMETER. 

Demeter,  "  Earth-Mother,"  was  an  original  Greek  con- 
ception, corresponding  to  one  common  among  the  Oriental 
nations,  the  conception  personified  by  Mant  in  Egypt, 
Beltis  or  Mylitta  in  Babylon,  Cybele  in  Phrygia,  etc.  The 
earth  on  which  man  lives,  and  from  which  he  derives  the 
food  that  sustains  him,  was  viewed  as  a  kind  and  bountiful 
parent — the  nurse,  the  feeder,  the  supporter,  the  sustainer 
of  mankind.'  Personified  as  a  goddess,  she  demanded  the 
worship  and  gratitude  of  all,  and  was  hence  a  universal 
deity,  though  specially  honored  in  certain  places.  In  the 
Greek  religion  Demeter  was  closely  connected  with  agri- 
culture, since  the  earth  in  Greece  did  not  support  men 
without  toil.  She  made  the  Greeks  acquainted  with  the 
growing  of  cereals,  the  operations  of  tillage,  and  bread- 
making.  Moreover  ,  as  agriculture  was  "  the  foundation  of 
all  social  and  political  ordinances,  and  inseparably  connected 
with  the  introduction  of  peaceable  and  orderly  ways  of  life, 
Demeter,  under  her  title  of  Thesmophoros,  was  the  ennobler 
of  mankind,  the  founder  of  civilization  and  law-giving." 
She  was  thus  more  in  Greece  than  she  was  in  Asia.  Her 
position  in  the  greatest  of  the  mysteries — the  Eleusinian — 
was  probably  owing  to  this  double  function,  this  combina- 
tion of  a  Natui*e-goddess  with  a  deity  of  law  and  order,  the 
power  that  led  man  on  from  the  simple  nomadic  condition 
to  all  the  refinements  and  complications  of  advanced  polit- 
ical life. 

"  These  were  the  prime  in  order  and  in  might; 
The  rest  were  long  to  tell,  though  far  renown'd, 
Th'  Ionian  gods,  of  Javan's  issue  held 
Gods,  yet  confess'd  later  than  heav'n  and  earth, 
Their  boasted  parents:  Titan,  Heav'n's  first-born, 
With  his  enormous  brood,  and  birthright  seiz'd 
By  younger  Saturn:  he  from  mightier  Jove, 
His  own  and  Ileah's  son.  like  measure  found: 
So  Jove  usurping  reign'd:  these  first  in  Crete 
And  Ida  known,  thence  on  the  snowy  top 
Of  cold  Olympus  rul'd  the  middle  air. 
Their  highest  heav'n ;  or  on  the  Delphian  cliff, 
Or  in  Dodona,  and  through  all  the  bounds 
Of  Doric  land ;  or  who  with  Saturn  old 
Fled  over  Adria  to  th'  Hesperian  fields, 
Aud  o'er  the  Celtic  roaiu'd  the  utmost  isles. 


150  EELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

Nor  had  they  yet  among  the  sons  of  Eve 

Got  them  new  names;  till  wand'ring  o'er  the  earth, 

Through  God's  high  suff' ranee  for  the  trial  of  man, 

By  falsiti  es  and  ies  the  greatest  part 

Of  mankind  they  corrupted  to  forsake 

God  their  Creator,  and  th'  invisible 

Glory  of  Him  that  made  them  to  transform 

Oft  to  the  image  of  a  brute,  adorn'd 

With  gay  religions  full  of  pomp  and  gold, 

And  devils  to  adore  for  deities  : 

Then  they  were  known  to  men  by  various  names, 

And  various  idols  through  the  heathen  world." — 

Among  the  deities  external  to  the  Olympic  circle,  the 
most  important  were  Dionysus,  Leto,  Persephone,  and 
Hades  or  Aidoneus.  Dionysus  is  generally  admitted  to 
have  been  derived  from  an  Oriental  source.  The  word 
probably  meant  originally  "  the  judge  of  men,"  *  and  re- 
ferred to  a  special  function  of  the  god,  who  was  thought  to 
pass  sentence  on  the  departed  when  they  reached  the  other 
world. 

Essentially,  however,  Dionysus  was  the  god  of  inebriety, 
the  deification  of  drunkenness,  as  Ares  was  of  violence,  and 
Aphrodite  of  sensual  desire.  He  was  viewed  as  -the  crea- 
tor of  the  vine,  or  at  any  rate  as  its  introducer  into  Greece ; 
the  teacher  of  its  culture,  and  the  discoverer  of  the  exhilara- 
ting properties  of  its  fruit.  The  worship  of  Dionysus  was 
effected  by  taking  part  in  his  orgies,  and  these  were  of  a 
furious  and  ecstatic  character,  accompanied  with  exciting 
music,  with  wild  dances,  with  shrieks  and  cries,  and  some- 
times with  bloodshed.  Both  men  and  women  joined  in  the 
Dionysiac  rites,  the  women  outdoing  the  men  in  the  vio- 
lence of  their  frenzy.  "Crowds  of  females,  clothed  with 
fawn-skins,  and  bearing  the  sacred  thyrsus,  flocked  to  the 
solitudes  of  Parnassus  or  Cithaeron  or  Taygetus,  during  the 
consecrated  triennial  period,  passed  the  night  there  with 
torches,  and  abandoned  themselves  to  demonstrations  of 
frantic  excitement,  with  dancing  and  clamorous  invocation 
of  the  god.  The  men  yielded  to  a  similar  impulse  by  noisy 
revels  in  the  streets,  sounding  the  cymbals  and  tambourine, 
and  carrying  the  image  of  the  god  in  procession."  f  Every 
sort  of  license  and  excess  was  regarded  as  lawful  on  these 

*  See  the  "  Transactions,  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology," 
vol.  II.  pp.  33.  81. 

t  Grote,  "  History  of  Greece,"  VQ}.  {.  p.  20. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     151 

occasions,  and  the  worship  of  the  deity  was  incomplete  un- 
less the  votary  reached  an  advanced  stage  of  intoxication. 
Dionysiac  festivals  were  fortunately  not  of  frequent  recur- 
rence, and  were  not  everywhere  celebrated  in  the  same  way. 
At  Athens  women  took  no  part  in  the  Dionysia  ;  and  with 
men  intellectual  contests,  and  the  witnessing  of  them,  held 
'he  place  of  the  rude  revels  elsewhere  too  common.  Still 
the  influence  of  Dionysiac  worship  on  Greece  generally 
must  be  regarded  as  excessively  corrupting,  and  Dionysus 
must  be  viewed  as,  next  to  Aphrodite,  the  most  objection- 
able of  the  Greek  divinities. 

Leto,  or  Latona,  as  the  Romans  called  her,  when  they 
adopted  her  into  their  pantheon,  was,  on  the  contrary,  one 
of  the  purer  and  more  elevating  influences.  She  is  wife  of 
Zeus  by  a  title  quite  as  good  as  that  of  Hera,*  and  is  a 
model  of  motherly  love  and  wifely  purity.  Separate  and 
peculiar  function  she  has  none,  and  it  is  difficult  to  account 
for  her  introduction  among  the  Olympians.  Perhaps  she 
is  to  be  regarded  as  ideal  womanhood.  Silent,  unob- 
trusive, always  subordinating  herself  to  her  children,  majes- 
tic, chaste,  kindly,  ready  to  help  and  tend,  she  is  in  Olyrn- 
Kus  what  the  Greek  wished  his  wife  to  be  in  his  own  home, 
er  very  shadowiness  according  with  the  Greek  notion  of 
womanly  perfection.!  Mr.  Gladstone  suggests  that  she  is 
a  traditional  deity,  representing  the  woman  through  whom 
man's  redemption  was  to  come;  J  but  there  scarcely  seems 
sufficient  foundation  for  this  view,  which  is  not  supported 
by  any  analogies  in  the  mythologies  of  other  nations. 

Persephone,  the  Roman  Proserpine,  was  the  queen  of 
the  dead  ;  far  more  than  her  shadowy  husband,  Hades,  the 
real  ruler  of  the  infernal  realm.  She  was  represented  as 
severely  pure  and  chaste,  even  having  become  a  wife  against 
her  will,  and  as  awful  and  terrible,  but  not  cruel.  She  oc- 
cupied no  very  important  post  in  the  religion,  since  her 
sphere  was  wholly  the  nether  world,  which  only  very 
sliirhtly  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Hellenes.  Hades,  or 
Aidoneus,  had  a  high  rank,  as  the  brother  of  Zeus,  and  in 

*  Hesiod  says  that  she  hecame  the  wife  of  Zeus  before  Hera 
("Theogony,"!!.  918-221). 

t  Cyinpare  the  line  of  Sophocles — 

'•  O  woman,  silence  is  the  woman's  crown." 

(Aj ax,  I  293.) 
}  "  Hoiner  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  vol.  ii.  p.  153. 


152  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

some  sort  his  co-equal ;  but  he  was  as  shadowy  as  the 
realm  over  which  he  presided,  and  to  most  Greeks  was 
simply  magni  nominis  umbra — "  the  shadow  of  a  great 
name,"  which  they  must  reverence  when  they  heard  it,  but 
not  a  deity,  who  to  any  extent  occupied  their  thoughts,  or 
received  their  worship.* 

It  would  be  easy  to  occupy  many  more  pages  with  the 
Greek  minor  deities,  but  our  limits  compel  us  to  refrain, 
and  to  turn  at  this  point  from  the  objects  to  the  character 
of  the  worship,  and  to  the  real  practical  influence  of  their 
religion  upon  the  Greek  race. 

In  the  main,  the  Greek  worship  was  of  a  joyous,  pleas- 
ant, and  lightsome  kind.  The  typical  Greek  was  devoid  of 
any  deep  sense  of  sin — thought  well  of  himself — did  not 
think  very  highly  of  the  gods,  and  considered  that,  so  long 
as  he  kept  free  from  grave  and  heinous  offences,  either 
the  moral  law  or  against  the  amour-propre  of  the  deities,  he 
had  little  to  fear,  while  he  had  much  to  hope,  from  them. 
He  prayed  and  offered  sacrifice,  not  so  much  in  the  way  of 
expiation,  or  to  deprecate  God's  wrath,  as  in  the  way  of 
natural  piety,  to  ask  for  blessings  and  to  acknowledge  them. 
He  made  vows  to  the  gods  in  sickness,  danger,  or  difliculty, 
and  was  careful  to  perform  his  vow  on  escape  or  recovery. 
His  house  was  full  of  shrines,  on  which  he  continually  laid 
small  offerings,  to  secure  the  favor  and  protection  of  his 
special  patron  deities.  Plato  says  that  he  prayed  every 
morning  and  evening,  and  also  concluded  every  set  meal 
with  a  prayer  or  hymn.  But  these  devotions  seem  not  to 
have  been  very  earnest  or  deep,  and  were  commonly  hurried 
through  in  a  perfunctory  mannery. 

Practically,  the  religious  worship  of  the  Greeks  consisted 
mainly  in  attendance  on  festivals  which  might  be  Pan-Hel- 
lenic, political,  tribal,  or  peculiar  to  a  guild  or  phratria. 
Each  year  brought  round  either  one  or  two  of  the  great 
panegyric* — the  festivals  of  the  entire  Greek  race  at  Olym- 
pia  and  Delphi,  at  Ncmea  and  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth. 
There  were  two  great  Ionic  festivals  annually,  one  at  Delos, 
and  the  other  at  the  Panionium  near  Mycale.  Each  state 
and  city  throughout  Greece  had  its  own  special  festivals, 

•Compare  Pollinger,  ".Tow  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i.  p.  03:  "  The 
people  did  not  trouble  themselves  much  about  Hades,  and  they  saw 
no  altars  dedicated  to  him.  There  was  one  image  of  him  at  Athens, 
but  he  had  hardly  anywhere  a  regular  worship." 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      153 

Dionysia,  'Eleusinia,  Panathenaea,  Carneia,  Hyakinthia, 
Apaturia,  etc.  Most  of  these  were  annual,  and  some  lasted 
several  days.  A  Greek  had  no  "  Sunday  " — no  sacred  day 
recurring  at  set  intervals,  on  which  his  thoughts  were  bound 
to  be  directed  to  religion  ;  but  so  long  a  time  as  a  week 
scarcely  ever  passed  without  his  calendar  calling  him  to 
some  sacred  observance  or  other,  some  feast  or  ceremony, 
in  honor  of  some  god  or  goddess,  or  in  commemoration  of 
some  event  important  in  the  history  of  mankind,*  or  in 
that  of  his  race,  or  of  his  city.  And  these  festivals  were 
highly  attractive  to  him.  Generally  they  were  joyful  oc- 
casions from  first  to  last,  celebrated  with  music,  and  pro- 
cessions, with  gymnastic  or  orchestral  competitions,  or  with 
theatrical  contests.  Ordinarily  they  include  sacrifice,  and 
feasting  upon  the  victims  sacrificed.  Even  when  they  were 
professedly  of  a  mournful  character,  like  the  Spartan  Hyak- 
inthia, the  opening  days  of  which  were  days  of  sadness  and 
of  gloom,  they  commonly  concluded  with  a  more  genial 
time — a  time  of  banqueting  and  dancing.  Accordingly, 
the  Greek  looked  forward  to  his  holy  days  as  true  holidays, 
and  was  pleased  to  combine  duty  with  pleasure  by  taking 
his  place  in  the  procession,  or  the  temple,  or  the  theatre, 
to  which  inclination  and  religion  alike  called  him.  ,  Thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  flocked  to  each  of  the  great 
Pan-Hellenic  gatherings,  delighting  in  the  splendor  and 
excitement  of  the  scene,  in  the  gay  dresses,  the  magnificent 
equipages,  the  races,  the  games,  the  choric,  and  other  con- 
tests. "  These  festivals,"  as  has  been  well  observed,  f 
"  were  considered  as  the  very  cream  of  the  Greek  life,  their 
periodical  recurrence  being  expected  with  eagerness  and 
greeted  with  joy."  Similarly,  though  to  a  minor  extent,  each 
national  or  even  tribal  gathering  was  an  occasion  of  enjoy- 
ment ;  cheerfulness,  hilarity,  sometimes  an  excessive  ex- 
hilaration, prevailed;  and  the  religion  of  the  Greeks,  in 
these  its  most  striking  and  obvious  manifestations  was 
altogether  bright,  festive,  and  pleasurable. 

But,  just  as  sunshine  cannot  exist  without  shadow,  so 
even  the  Greek  religion,  bright  as  it  was,  had  its  dark  side. 
Calamities  befel  nations,  families,  or  individuals,  and  were 

*  E.  <i.,  the  Hydrophoria,  kept  in  commemoration  of  those  who 
perished  in  the  Flood  of  Deucalion,  the  Greek  representation  of  the 
Noachical  Deluge. 

f  Dollinger,  "  Jew  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i.  p.  238. 


154  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 

attributed  to  an  offended  god  or  a  cruel  fury.  *  A  sense  of 
guilt  occasionally  visited  those  who  had  committed  great 
and  flagrant  crimes,  as  perjury,  btesphemy,  robbery  of 
temples,  incest,  violation  of  the  right  of  asylum,  treachery 
toward  a  guest-friend,  and  the  like.  A  load  under  these 
circumstances  lay  upon  the  conscience ;  all  the  horrors  of 
remorse  were  felt ;  avenging  fiends  were  believed  to  haunt 

'  O         O 

and  torture  the  guilty  one,  who  sometimes  earnestly  sought 
relief  for  a  term  of  years,  and  sought  in  vain.  There  were, 
indeed,  rites  of  expiation  appropriate  to  different  occasions  ; 
most  sins  could  be  atoned  for  in  some  manner  or  other ;  but 
the  process  was  generally  long  and  painful ;  *  and  there  were 
cases  where  the  persistent  anger  of  the  fierce  Erinyes  could 
not  in  any  way  be  appeased.  When  a  nation  had  sinned, 
human  sacrifices  were  not  unfrequently  prescribed  as  the 
only  possible  propitiation  ;  f  if  the  case  were  that  of  an  in- 
dividual, various  modes  of  purification  were  adopted,  ablu- 
tions, fastings,  sacrifices,  and  the  like.  According  to  Plato, 
however,  the  number  of  those  who  had  any  deep  sense  of 
their  guilt  was  few  :  most  men,  whatever  crimes  they  com- 
mitted, found  among  the  gods  examples  of  similar  acts,t 
and  thought  no  great  blame  would  attach  to  them  for  their 
misconduct.  At  the  worst,  if  the  gods  were  angered  by 
their  behavior,  a  few  offerings  would  satisfy  them,  and  set 
things  straight,§  leaving  the  offenders  free  to  repeat  their 
crimes,  and  so  to  grow  more  and  more  hardened  in  iniquity. 
At  the  position  which  the  "mysteries"  occupied  in  the 
Greek  religion  it  is  impossible  for  us,  in  this  slight  sketch, 
to  do  more  than  glance.  The  mysteries  were  certain  secret 
rites  practiced  by  voluntary  associations  of  individuals,  who 
pledged  themselves  not  to  reveal  to  the  uninitiated  anything 
which  they  saw  or  heai'd  at  the  secret  meetings.  They 
were  usually  connected  with  the  worship  of  some  particular 
god,  and  consisted  mainly  in  symbolical  representations  of 
the  adventures  and  circumstances  connected  with  the  god 
in  the  mythology.  They  contained  nothing  that  was  contra- 
dictory to  the  popular  religion,  and  little  that  was  explanatory 
of  it.  The  various  mysteries  had  each  its  own  apparatus  of 

*  See  the  ' '  Eumenidos  "  of  ^schylus,  where  Orestes,  however,  is 
at  last  purged  of  his  guilt. 

t  Even  as  late  «s  the  time  of  Solon,  Epimenides  prescribed  a 
human  .sacrifice  at  Athens. 

J  Plato,  '  Republic,"  ii.  §  17.  §  Ibid.  §  T 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD       IOD 

symbols  and  formularies,  by  which  the  mystce  knew  each 
other,  as  freemason's  do ;  but  they  only  vaguely  hinted  at 
any  theological  dogmas  or  opinions.  The  Greek  greatly 
affected  these  secret  rites ;  and  it  is  said  that  but  few 
Greeks  were  not  initiated  in  some  mystery  or  other.*  "  Their 
attraction  lay  in  their  veil  of  secrecy,  transparent  though  it 
w:is,  in  the  variety  of  feelings  brought  into  play  by  lively 
dramatic  representations,  in  the  rapid  transition  from  anxiety 
and  suspense  to  serenity  and  joy,  and  combination  of  all 
arts  and  artistic  enjoyments,  of  music  and  song,  the  mimic 
dance,  the  brilliant  lighting-up,  and  effective  decoration."! 
It  can  scarcely,  however,  be  said  that  the  mysteries  exercised 
any  salutary  or  elevating  influence  on  the  Greek  generally. 
The  moral  conduct  of  the  initiated  was  no  better  than  that 
of  others ;  and  Plato  thought  that  participation  in  the 
Eleusinia  served  only  to  strengthen  and  make  a  man  secure 
in  unrighteousness.! 

*  Dollinger,  "  Jew  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i.  p.  193. 

t  Ibid.  p.  196. 

|  "Republic,"  ii.  §  6  (quoted  by  Dollinger,  p.  300. 


156  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RELIGION   OF    THE    ANCIENT    ROMANS. 

"Sua  cuique  religio  civitati,  nostra  nobis." 

CICKBO,  Pro  Place.  23. 

TIME  was,  and  not  a  very  distant  time,  when  it  was 
regularly  inculcated  on  the  youthful  mind  in  our  public 
schools  and  other  great  educational  establishments,  that  one 
and  the  same  religious  system  prevailed  alike  in  Italy  and 
Greece,  among  the  Romans  and  the  Hellenes  ;  two  branches, 
as  it  was  thought,  of  a  single  original  people.  Such  phrases 
as  "classical  mythology,"  "the  religion  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,"  "  the  deities  of  the  classical  nations,"  were 
frequent  alike  on  the  lips  of  teachers,  and  in  the  language 
of  authorized  text-books;  the  Grecian  divinities  were  spoken 
of  almost  universally  by  their  (supposed)  equivalent  Latin 
names ;  and  the  youth  would  have  been  considered  offen- 
sively pedantic  who  should  have  hesitated  to  render  %'Hp« 
by  "  Juno, "  or  A^/-?/*  by  "  Ceres."  But  within  the  last 
twenty  or  thirty  years  a  more  just  appreciation  of  the  facts 
of  the  case  has  sprung  up  ;  the  careful  investigation  which 
has  been  made  of  the  "  origines  "  both  of  Greece  and  Rome 
has  shown,  first,  that  the  two  nations  were  but  remotely 
connected  in  race,  and  secondly,  that  their  religious  systems 
Avere  markedly  and  strikingly  different.  Any  review  of  the 
religions  of  the  ancient  world  that  is  attempted  at  the 
present  day,  necessarily  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  treats 
separately  the  religion  of  the  Hellenes  and  that  of  the 
Romans  ;  and  we  are  thus  bound,  before  our  task  can  be  re- 
garded as  complete,  to  append  to  the  account  which  we 
have  already  given  of  the  Hellenic  religious  system  a 
chapter  on  the  "Religion  of  the  Ancient  Romans." 

Following  the  method  which  we  have  hitherto  for  the 
most  part  pursued,  we  propose  to  consider,  first,  the  objects 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      157 

of  worship  at  Rome,  and  secondly,  the  character  and  pecul- 
iarities of  the  worship  which  was  paid  to  them.  We  may 
note,  enpassant,  that  the  religion  was  a  polytheism,  in  its 
general  character  similar  to  that  of  Greece,  but  distinguished 
by  its  comparatively  scanty  development  of  the  polytheistic 
idea  in  respect  of  Nature  and  the  parts  of  Nature,  and  its 
ample  development  of  that  idea  in  connection  with  human 
life,  its  actions,  parts,  and  phases. 

The  great  gods  (J)i  major  es)  of  Rome  were  always  re- 
garded as  twelve  in  number,  though  at  different  periods  of 
Roman  history  the  enumeration  of  "  the  twelve  "  w*ould 
have  been  different.  If  we  go  back  to  the  very  earliest — 
almost  pre-historic — time,  we  may  perhaps  name  the  follow- 
ing as  "the  twelve"  of  the  primitive  system — Jupiter, 
Juno  (=Diana),  Minerva,  Mars,  Bellona,  Vesta,  Ceres, 
Saturnus,  Ops,  Hercules,  Mercurius,  Neptune.  A  few  words 
must  be  said  concerning  each  of  these. 

JUPITER. 

The  Jupiter  (JV-PATER),  or  "  Father  Jove,"  of  the 
Romans  bore  a  real  resemblance  to  the  Greek  Zeus,  with 
whose  name  his  is  etymological!}-  identical.*  The  idea  of 
paternity,  attached  to  his  name  in  ordinary  parlance,  im- 
plied the  same  notion  which  we  find  in  the  Hellenic  system, 
viz.,  that  he  was  "  the  father  of  gods  and  men  "  (hominum 
»ator  atque  deorum,  Virg.).  He  had  a  temple  from  the  very 
earliest  time  on  the  Capitoline  hill,  where  he  was  worship- 
ped in  combination  with  Juno  and  Minerva,  and  a  High 
Priest,  the  *'  Flamen  Dialis,"  who  maintained  his  cult  with 
perpetual  burnt  sacrifice.  Originally,  there  must  have  been 
in  the  conception  of  Jupiter  a  latent  monotheism ;  but  long 
before  the  first  settlement  was  made  by  any  Latins  in  Italy, 
this  idea  seems  to  have  evaporated  ;  and  to  the  Romans  of 
the  earliest  times  whereof  we  have  any  trace,  Jove  was  no 
more  than  one  god  out  of  manyf — the  god,  especially,  of 
the  air,  the  sky,  the  firmament — who  sent  down  lightning 
from  above,  gave  rain,  directed  the  flight  of  birds,  and  (as 

*  Both  names  age  of  course,  closely  allied  to  the  Sanskrit 
"Dyans,"  "heaven,"  or  the  sky."  (See  Max  Miiller,  "Science  of 
Religion,"  p.  172.) 

t  This  is  applied  in  the  ordinary  appendage  to  his  name,  "Op- 
timus  maximus,"  "  the  best  and  greatest "  (of  the  gods). 


158  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

Ve-Jovis)  impregnated  the  atmosphere  with  fevers  and 
pestilence.  He  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Roman 
pantheon,  only  preceded  sometimes  in  solemn  invocations  * 
by  Janus,  "  the  spirit  of  opening,"  who  necessarily  presided 
over  beginnings  of  all  kinds.  A  sort  of  general  super- 
intendence over  human  affairs  was  assigned  to  him  ;  he  was 
viewed  as  punishing  impiety  in  general,  and  perjury  in 
particular  ;  he  knew  the  future,  and  could  reveal  it  ;  he 
guarded  the  rights  of  property,  and  was  viewed  as  a  sort  of 
guardian  deity  of  the  Roman  people  and  state.  He  has 
been  called,  "  the  genius  of  the  Roman  people  ;  "  t  but  this 
conception  of  him  is  too  narrow.  He  was  certainly  much 
more  than  that.  If  not  the  "  universal  lord,"  which  some 
have  considered  him,  he  was  at  any  rate  a  great  god — the 
highest  conception  of  deity  which  was  ever  reached  by  the 
Romans. 

JUNO. 

Juno  is  a  mere  female  Jupiter,  possessing  no  substantive 
or  separate  character,  unless  it  be  that  of  a  special  protec- 
tress of  women,  and  more  particularly  of  matrons.  She 
stands  to  Jupiter  as  Fauna  to  Faunus,  Luna  to  Lunus,  Amente 
to  Ammon.  She  presided  especially  over  marriages  and 
births,  being  invoked  as  "  Lucina,"  or  "  she  that  brings  to 
light,"  when  the  birth  drew  nigh,  and  as  "  Pronuba  "  when 
marriage  approached.  Identical  with  Diana  originally  (for 
Diana  is  to  A«5f  as  ,  Juno  to  ZeV'f),  she  came  gradually  to 
be  considered  a  distinct  and  separate  deity — the  distinction 
becoming  a  contrast  in  the  later  times,  when  Diana  was 
identified  with  the  Grecian  Artemis.  As  Jupiter  was  the 
"  king,"  so  Juno  was  the  "  queen  of  heaven  "  (regina  cceli 
ccedi  or  coeloruni).  She  was  invoked  under  many  names  be- 
side those  already  mentioned.  She  was  "  Virginalis,"  as 
protecting  maidens  ;  "  Matrona,  as  the  patroness  of  married 
women  ;  "  Opigena,"  "  help-giving  ;  "  and  "  Sospita," 
"  preserving,"  as  general  aider  of  the  female  sex.  A  great 
festival  was  held  in  her  honor  every  year  on  the  1st  of 
March,  which  was  called  Matronalia,  and  was  attended  by 
all  Roman  matrons,  who  regarded  her  as  at  her  pleasure 

•  Liv.  viii.  9. 

t  Momrasen,  "  History  of  Home,"  vol.  i.  p.  176,  E.  T. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     159 

either  giving  or  withholding  offspring.  It  was  perhaps  an 
accident  which  gave  Juno  the  presidency  over  many,  the 
Romans  having  found  it  convenient  to  establish  their  first 
mint  in  the  vicinity  of  her  temple  on  the  Capitoline  hill, 
where  she  was  worshipped  as  Juno  JVIoneta,  or  "  Juno  the 
admonitress." 

MINEKVA. 

Minerva,  though  worshipped  in  common  by  the  Etrus- 
cans and  the  Romans,  appears  by  the  etymology  of  her  name 
to  have  been  essentially  a  Latin  deity.  She  is  the  goddess 
of  mind  (metis)  and  memory  (memini,  reminiscor) — "  the 
thinking,  calculating,  inventive  power  personified."  *  Her 
worship  was  closely  connected  with  that  of  Jupiter  and 
Juno,  the  three  together  forming  the  Capitoline  Triad,  who 
alone  had  temples  on  that  hill  in  the  early  times.  In  the 
great  lectisternium  called  epulum  Jovis,  the  images  of  the 
three  were  brought  out  and  feasted  together.  Minerva  was 
the  patroness  both  of  the  fine  arts  and  of  the  various  handi- 
crafts— the  goddess  of  sculptors,  painters,  musicians,  poets, 
physicians,  weavers,  dyers,  carpenters,  smiths,  etc.,  etc. 
Each  man  regarded  his  talents  as  coming  especially  from 
her  ;  and  as  success  in  war  is  the  fruit  of  prudence,  per- 
severance, contrivance,  stratagem,  as  much  as  of  courage 
and  sheer  brute  force,  Minerva  was  in  one  respect  t  a  war- 
goddess,  and  represented  with  a  helmet,  shield,  and  coat  of 
mail.  The  chief  festival  celebrated  in  honor  of  Minerva 
was  the  Quinquatrus  or  Quinquatria,  which  lasted  five  days 
— from  the  19th  of  March  to  the  23rd. 

MARS. 

In  Mavors  or  Mars  we  have  "  the  central  object,  not 
only  of  Roman,  but  Italian,  worship  in  general  "t  — the  real 
main  object  of  public  religious  regard  throughout  the  greater 
portion  of  the  peninsula.  Originally,  perhaps,  Maurs 
(More),  "  the  killing  god,"  and  therefore,  like  Siva  the  De- 
stroyer, attached  to  no  special  department  of  human  life,  he 
came  by  degrees  to  have  the  most  destructive  of  human 

-  hmidt,    in   Dr.  Smith's  "Diet,  of    Greek  and  Roman   Anti- 
quities," vol.  ii.  p.  1090. 

t  So  Mommsen,  "  History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i.  p.  175,  E.  T. 


160  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

occupations,  war,  assigned  to  him  as  his  especial  field,  and 
to  be  regarded  as  the  god  who  went  out  to  battle  at  the 
head  of  each  army  —  invisible  but  really  present — who 
hurled  his  spear  at  the  foe,  struck  terror  into  them,  disor- 
dered their  ranks,  and  gave  to  his  worshippers  the  victory. 
Practically  ousting  Jupiter  from  the  regards  of  men,  he  be- 
came Marspiter  *  (Maspiter,  "  Father  Mars,"  the  god  to 
whom  alone  they  looked  for  protection.  The  first  month 
of  the  year  was  dedicated  to  him,  and  thence  took  the  name 
which  it  bears  in  most  modern  European  languages.  The 
great  muster-ground  of  the  people  before  they  went  out  to 
war  became  the  "  Campus  Martius  ;  "  and  war  itself  was 
sometimes  designated  by  his  name,  as  intellectual  ability 
was  by  that  of  Minerva.  As  marching  at  the  head  of  Roman 
troops,  he  was  called  Gradimis,  as  avenging  them  upon 
their  enemies,  TJltor.  Like  Jupiter,  he  had  his  High  Priest 
— the  "  Flamen  Martialis  " — whose  business  it  was  to  pre- 
sent to  him  burnt  offerings.  He  had  also  attached  to  his 
worship  from  very  ancient  times  a  college  of  priests  known 
as  Salii  ("  dancers  "),  who  performed  war-dances  in  his 
honor,  clad  in  armor,  and  carrying  the  sacred  shields  sup- 
posed to  have  fallen  from  heaven,  and  called  ancilia.  The 
wolf,  the  horse,  and  the  woodpecker  were  sacred  to  him. 
A  great  festival  was  held  in  his  honor  at  the  beginning  of 
each  year,  commencing  on  the  1st  March. 

BELLONA. 

Bellona,  or  Duellonn,f  stood  to  Mars  as  Juno  to  Jupiter, 
except  that  there  was  no  etymological  connection  between 
the  names.  She  was  the  goddess  of  war  (bcllum  or  duellu,m\ 
was  spoken  of  as  the  wife  or  sister  of  Mars,  and  had  a  tem- 
ple in  the  Campus  Martius,  where  the  ceremony  of  proclaim- 
ing war  was  performed.  A  college  of  priests,  called  Bcllon- 
nrii,  conducted  her  worship,  and  were  bound,  when  they 
offered  sncrifice  in  her  honor,  to  wound  their  own  arms  or 
legs,  and  either  to  offer  up  upon  her  altar  the  blood  which 
flowed  from  their  wounds,  or  else  to  swallow  it  themselves. 
The  124th  to  March  was  especially  appointed  for  these  cere- 
monies, and  for  this  reason  was  known  in  the  Uoman  calendar 
as  the  "  day  of  blood  "  (dies  sanguinis).  Bellona  was  rep- 

»  Liv.  vill.  9. 

t  Fabretti,  "Corpus  Inscr.  Italicarum,"  p. 323. 


THE  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       161 

resented  as  armed  with  a  bloody  scourge,  *  and  was 
solemnly  invoked  in  dangerous  crises  by  generals  on  the 
battle  field  t 


VESTA. 


Vesta,  identical  with  the  Grecian  Hestia  ('Earea),  was 
an  ancient  goddess,  whose  worship  the  Latins  brought  with 
them  into  Italy  from  their  primitive  settlements  in  the  far 
Kast.  In  her  earliest  conception,  she  was  the  goddess  of 
the  human  dwelling  (vas  vasana,  Sanskr.)  generally  :  but, 
according  to  Roman  ideas,  it  was  the  national,  rather  than 
the  domestic,  hearth  over  which  she  presided.  Her  temple 
was  one  of  the  most  ancient  in  Rome.  It  lay  at  the  north- 
ern foot  of  the  Palatine  hill,  a  little  east  of  the  Forum, 
and  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a  sacred  grove,  also 
dedicated  to  Vesta.  The  regular  worship  of  the  goddess 
was  entrusted  to  a  college  of  six  women,  known  as  "  Vestal 
Virgins  "  (  Viryines  Vestales),  whose  special  duty  it  was  to 
preserve  the  sacred  fire  upon  the  altar  which  represented 
the  national  hearthstone,  and  not  to  allow  it  ever  to  be  ex- 
tinguished. They  dwelt  together  in  a  cloister  (atriuni)  a 
li'tlr  apart  from  the  temple,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
eldest  sister  (  Vestalis  maxima)  and  under  the  superinten- 
dence and  control  of  the  college  of  Pontifices.  Besides 
watching  the  fire,  they  had  to  present  offerings  to  Vesta  at 
stated  times,  and  to  sprinkle  and  purify  the  shrine  each 
morning  with  water  from  the  Egerian  spring.  A  festival 
\vas  held  in  honor  of  the  goddess  annually  on  the  9th  of 
Tune,  at  which  no  man  might  be  present,  but  which  was 
ittcnded  by  the  Roman  matrons  generally,  who  walked  in 
procession  with  bare  feet  from  the  various  quarters  of  the 
city  to  the  temple.  There  was  no  image  in  the  temple  of 
V  '^tn,  the  eternal  fire  being  regarded  'as  symbolizing  her 
^efficiently. 

CERES. 

A  god,  Cerus,  and  a  goddess  Cerie,  are  found  to  have 
been  worshipped  by  the  early  Italians  ;  t  and  it  is  a  rea- 


,  "  Mn."  viii.  703;  Lucan,  "  Phars."  vii.  569. 
Liv.  viii.  9;  x.  19. 
t  Fabretti,  "Corpus  Ins.  Italic."  pp.  829,  830. 


162  RELIGION  OF  TIIE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

sonable  conjecture  that  these  names  are  connected  with  the 
Latin  "  Ceres."  The  Latin  writers  derived  that  word 
either  from  gero  or  creo^  and  considered  that  it  was  given 
to  mark  that  the  deity  in  question  was  the  "  bringer,"  or 
"creator"  of  those  fruits  of  the  earth  on  which  the  life  of 
man  mainly  depends.  Accordingly  to  some,  Ceres  was  the 
same  as  Tellus ;  but  this  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the 
case  anciently.  Ceres  was  the  goddess  of  agriculture,  and 
was  connected  from  a  very  early  date  with  Liber,  the  Latin 
Bacchus,  the  god  of  the  vineyard.  That  Ceres  should  have 
been  one  of  the  "  great  divinities,"  marks  strongly  the 
agricultural  character  of  the  early  Roman  state,  which  did 
not  give  to  Liber,  or  to  Pomona,  any  such  position.  The 
worship  of  Ceres  merged  after  a  time  in  that  of  Demeter, 
whose  peculiar  rites  were  imported  either  from  Velia  or 
from  Sicily. 

SATURXTTS. 

Saturnus  was  properly  the  god  of  sowing,  but  was  re- 
garded, like  Ceres,  as  a  general  deity  of  agriculture,  and 
was  represented  with  a  pruning-hook  in  his  hand,  and  with 
wool  about  his  feet.  His  statue  was  made  hollow,  and  was 
filled  with  olive  oil,  significant  of  the  "  fatness"  and  fertility 
which  he  spread  over  the  land.  His  festival,  the  Saturnalia 
held  in  December,  from  the  17th  to  the  24th,  was  a  sort  of 
harvest-home,  commemorative  of  the  conclusion  of  all  the 
labors  of  the  year,  and  was  therefore  celebrated  Avith  jocund 
rites,  mirth,  and  festivity,  an  intermixture  of  all  ranks  upon 
equal  terms,  and  an  interchange  of  presents.  The  Temple 
of  Saturn  at  Rome  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline  hill, 
and  was  assigned  to  a  remote  antiquity,  though  with  varia- 
tions as  to  the  exact  date.  It  was  used  as  a  record  office, 
and  also  as  the  public  treasury,  which  was  regarded  as 
mainly  filled  by  the  produce  of  argicultural  industry.  The 
identification  of  Saturnus  with  the  Grecian  Cronus  was  a 
foolish  fancy  of  the  Hellonudng  period,  the  truth  being  that 
"  there  is  no  resemblance  whatever  between  the  attributes 
of  the  two  deities. ''f 

•  Varro  ("I)e  Ling.  Lat."  v.  64),  and  Cicero  ("  De  Nat.  Deor." 
11.  26),  derive  itfrom.f/m>  ;  Servius  ("  Cornm.  ad.  Virg.  Georg."  i  <>), 
and  Macrobius  (''.Saturn."  i.  18)  from  crco. 

t  Schmidt,  in  Smith's  "  Diet,  of  G^eek  and  Roman  Biog."  voL 
iii.  p.  720. 


THE  I;KLK;IONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.     103 


OPS. 

"With  Saturn  must  be  placed  Ops,  who  was  sometimes 
called  his  wife,  and  whose  worship  certainly  stood  in  a  very 
flose  connection  with  his.  Ops  was  properly  the  divinity 
of  field-labor  (opus,  opera)  ;  but  as  such  labor  is  productive 
of  wealth,  Ops  came  to  be  also  the  goddess  of  plenty  and  of 
riches,  and  her  name  is  the  root-element  in  such  words  as 
"litmus,  opulentus,  inops,  and  the  like.  She  was  generally 
worshipped  together  with  Saturn,  and  had  temples  in  com- 
mon with  him  ;  but  still  she  had  her  own  separate  sanctuary 
on  the  Capitoline  hill,*  where  honors  were  paid  to  her  apart 
from  any  other  deity.  Her  festival,  the  Opalia,  fell  on 
December  19th,  or  the  third  day  of  the  Saturnalia,  and  was 
thus  practically  merged  in  that  of  the  god  of  agriculture. 
Ops,  like  Ceres  is  sometimes  confounded  with  Tellus,  but 
the  three  goddesses  were  to  the  Latin  mind  distinct,  Tellus 
bring  a  personification  of  the  earth  itself,  Ceres  of  the  pro- 
ductive power  in  natnre,  which  brings  forth  fruits  out  of  the 
earth,  and  Ops  of  the  human  labor  without  which  the  pro- 
ductive power  runs  to  waste,  and  is  insufficient  for  the  susten- 
ance of  human  life. 

HERCULES. 

The  near  resemblance  of  Hercules  to  Heracles  led,  almost 
necessarily,  to  the  idea,  everywhere  prevalent  until  recently, 
that  the  two  gods  were  identical,  and  that  therefore  either 
Hercules  was  an  ancient  deity  common  to  the  Latins  with 
the  Hellenes  before  the  former  migrated  into  Italy,  or  else 
that  he  was  an  importation  from  Greece,  introduced  at  a 
comparatively  late  period.  Recently,  however,  the  etymo- 
logical connection  of  the  two  names  has  been  questioned, 
and  it  has  been  suggested  f  that  Hercules  is,  like  Ceres,  and 
Saturn,  and  Ops,  and  Mars,  and  Minerva,  a  genuine  Italic 
god,  quite  unconnected  with  Heracles,  who  is  a  genuine 
Hellenic  divinity.  The  root  of  the  name  Hercules  has  been 
found  in  hercus  (  ipx^  )  "  a  fence  "  or  "  enclosure,"  whence 


•  Liv.  xxxix.  22. 

t  Momuisen,   "History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i.  p.  174. 


164      THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

hercere  or  arcere,  "  to  ward  off,"  "keep  back,"  "shield." 
Hercules,  whose  worship  was  certainly  as  ancient  at  Rome 
as  that  of  any  other  deity,  would  thus  be  "  the  god  oi 
property  and  gain."*  He  was  regarded  as  presiding  ovei 
faith,  the  basis  of  the  social  contract,  and  of  all  dealings 
between  man  and  man,  and  hence  was  known  as  J)eusjidiits, 
*'  the  god  of  good  faith,"  who  avenged  infractions  of  it. 
In  the  early  times  he  seems  to  have  had  no  temple  at 
Rome ;  but  his  Great  Altar  in  the  cattle-market  was  one  of 
the  most  sacred  sites  in  the  city ;  f  oaths  were  sworn  there 
and  contracts  concluded;  nor  was  it  unusual  for  Roman 
citizens  to  devote  to  it  a  tenth  part  of  their  property,  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  god's  favor,  or  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  a  vow.  The  worship  of  Hercules  was  not  exclu- 
sively Roman,  not  even  Latin,  but  Italic.  He  was  ".rever- 
enced in  every  spot  of  Italy,  and  had  altars  erected  to  him 
everywhere,  in  the  streets  of  the  towns  as  well  as  by  the 
roadsides."| 

MERCTJRIUS. 

Mercurius  was  the  god  of  commerce  and  traffic  generally. 
As  trade  was  not  looked  upon  with  much  respect  at  Rome, 
his  position  among  the  "  great  gods  "  was  a  low  one.  He 
had  no  very  ancient  temple  or  priesthood,  and,  when 
allowed  the  honor  of  a  temple  in  the  second  decade  of  the 
Republic,§  his  worship  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as 
plebeian  and  of  an  inferior  character.  Connected  with  it 
was  a  "  guild  of  merchants "  ||  (collegium  mercatorum), 
called  aftewards,  "  Mercuriales,"  who  met  at  the  temple  on 
certain  fixed  days  for  a  religious  purpose.  The  cult  of  Mer- 
cury was,  like  that  of  Hercules,  very  widely  diffused  ;  but 
it  was  affected  chiefly  by  the  lower  orders,  and  had  not 
much  hold  upon  the  nation. 


NKPTUNIS. 
The  Latin  Neptune  is  reasonably  identified  with   the 

*  Mommsen,  "  History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i.,  p.  74. 

t  See  Liv.  i.  7;  ix.  2i).  t  Mommsen,  1.  s.o. 

§  Liv.  ii.  27. 

|i  Niebuhr,  "  History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i.  p.  589,  note,  E.  T. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.       165 

Etruscan  Nethuns,*  who  was  a  water  god,  widely  wor- 
shipped by  that  seafaring  people.  The  word  is  probably  to 
be  connected  with  the  root  nib  or  nip,  found  in 
V'ITTTU,  VUTTTJP,  xrp-vt&-a,  f.  r.  A.  There  is  not  much  trace  of  the 
worship  of  Neptune  at  Rome  in  the  early  times,  for  Livy's 
identification  of  him  with  Consus,|  the  god  honored  in  the 
Consualia,  cannot  be  allowed.  We  find  his  cult,  however, 
fully  established  in  the  second  century  of  the  Republic,:): 
when  it  was  united  with  that  of  Mercury,  the  mercantile 
deity.  In  later  times  he  had  an  altar  in  the  Circus  Flam- 
inius,  and  a  temple  in  the  Campus  Martius.  A  festival  was 
held  in  his  honor,  called  Neptunalia,  on  the  23rd  day  of 
July,  which  was  celebrated  with  games,  banquets,  and 
carousals.  The  people  made  themselves  booths  at  this  time 
with  the  branches  of  trees,  and  feasted  beneath  the  pleasant 
shade  of  the  green  foilage.  Roman  admirals,  on  quitting 
port  with  a  fleet,  were  bound  to  sacrifice  to  Neptune,  and 
the  entrails  of  the  victims  were  thrown  into  the  sea.  After 
the  Greek  mythology  became  known  to  the  Romans,  Nep- 
tune was  completely  identified  with  Poseidon,  and  became 
invested  with  all  his  attributes.  Amphitrite  became  his 
wife,  and  the  Nerieds  his  companions.§ 

In  succession  to  the  twelve  deities  of  the  first  rank  may 
be  placed  the  following  important  groups : — 1.  The  gods 
of  the  country :  Tellus,  or  Mother  Earth  ;  Silvanus,  god  of 
the  woods  ;  Flora  Pomona,  goddess  of  orchards  ;  Pomona, 
goddess  of  flowers;  Faunus  ("favoring  god"),  pi'esiding 
over  flocks  and  heixls;  and  Vertumnus,  god  of  the  changing 
year  (verto).  2.  The  State  gods :  Terminus,  god  of  the 
boundary ;  Census,  god  of  the  State's  secret  counsels ; 
Quirinus,  god  of  the  Quirinal  and  of  the  Quirites,  or 
Roman  people ;  and  the  Penates,  god  of  the  State's 
property  (penus).  3.  The  personifications  of  abstract 
qualities  :  Pietas,  goddess  of  piety ;  Fides,  of  faith  ;  Spes, 
of  hope ;  Pax,  of  peace  abroad ;  Concordia,  of  peace  at 
home;  Libertas,  of  liberty;  Fortuna,  of  good  luck;  Ju- 
ventas,  of  youth  ;  Salus,  of  health ;  Pudicitia,  of  modesty ; 
Victoria,  of  victory  ;  Cupid,  god  of  desire  ;  Pavot,  of  fright ; 
Pallor,  of  paleness ;  and  the  like.  4.  The  Nature  gods  j 
Ccelus,  Terra,  Sol,  Lunus,  or  Luna,  ^Esculanus,  Argentinus, 
etc.  And  5.  The  divinities  introduced  from  Greeco : 

*  Taylor,  "Etruscan  Researches,"  p.  138. 

t  Liv.  i.  0.  J  Ibid.  v.  13.  §  Hor.  Od.iii.  28,  1.  10. 


166  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

Apollo,  Bacchus,  Latona,  Pluto,  Plutus,  Proserpine,  Castor, 
Pollux,  ^Esculapius,  Priapus,  ./Eolus,  the  Fates,  the  Furies, 
etc. 

To  this  brief  sketch  of  the  chief  objects  of  worship  among 
the  ancient  Romansj  it  follows  to  add  some  account  of  the 
character  of  the  worship  itself. 

The  worship  of  most  of  the. gods  was  specially  provided 
for  by  the  State,  which  established  paid  priesthoods,  to 
secure  the  continual  rendering  of  the  honors  due  to  each. 
The  highest  order  of  priests  bore  the  name  of  Flamines, 
which  is  thought  to  mean  "  kindlers  of  fire,"  *  i.e.,  offerers 
of  burnt  sacrifice.  The  Flamines  were  of  two  classes, 
Majores  and  Minores,  the  former  of  whom  were  always 
taken  from  the  patrician  order.  These  were  the  Flamen 
Dialis,  or  "  priest  of  Jove,"  the  Flamen  Martialis,  or  "  priest 
of  Mars,"  and  the  Flamen  Quirinalis,  or  "  priest  of  Quirinus." 
Among  the  Flamen  Minores,  many  of  whom  were  of  late  in- 
stitution, we  find  those  of  Vertummis,  Flora,  Pomona,  and 
Vulcan. |  The  Flamen  was  in  each  case  the  principal 
^sacrificing  priest  in  the  chief  temple  of  the  god  or  goddess, 
and  was  bound  to  be  in  continual  attendance  upon  the  shrine, 
and  to  superintend  the  entire  worship  offered  at  it.  In 
addition  to  the  Flamen,  or  in  his  place,  there  was  attached 
to  all  temples  a  collegium,  or  body  of  priests,  which  might 
consist  of  all  the  male  members  of  a  particular  family,  as  the 
Potitii  and  Pinarii,$  but  was  more  commonly  a  close  cor- 
poration, limited  in  number,  and  elected  by  co-optation,  i.e., 
by  the  votes  of  the  existing  members. 

Amongst  the  most  important  of  these  corporations  were 
the  two  collegia  of  Salii,  or  "  dancing  priests,"  which  were 
attached  to  the  temple  of  Mars  upon  the  Palatine  hill,  and 
to  that  of  Quirinus  upon  the  Quirinal.  The  former — Salii 
Palatini — had  the  charge  of  the  ancilia,  or  sacred  shields, 
one  of  which  was  believed  to  have  fallen  from  heaven,  and 
to  be  fatally  connected  with  the  safety  of  the  Roman  State. 
In  the  great  festival  of  Mars,  with  which  the  year  opened, 
they  marched  in  procession  through  the  city,  bearing  the 
ancilia  on  their  shoulders,  and  striking  them  from  time  to 
time,  as  they  danced  and  sang,  with  a  rod.  The  Salii  of 
Quirinus — Salii  Collini  or  Agonales — were  a  less  important 
college.  Their  duties  connected  them  with  the  worship  of 

*  Mommsen,  "  History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i.  p.  175. 

t  Ennius  ap.  Varrouein,  "  De  Ling.  Lat,"  vii  44,  i  Liv.  i.  T 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.       167 

Quirinus,  who  is  believed  by  some  to  have  been  the  Sabine 
Mai-s,*  Jind  with  the  festival  of  the  Quirinalia.  Like  the 
other  Salii,  they  no  doubt  performed  war-dances  in  honor  of 
their  patron  deity.  A  third  collegium,  or  priestly  corpora- 
tion of  high  rank,  was  that  of  the  six  Vestal  Virgins,  at- 
tached, as  their  names  implies,  to  the  worship  of  Vesta,  arid 
regarded  with  peculiar  veneration,  as  having  vowed  them- 
selves to  chastity  in  the  service  of  the  nation.  Other  collegia 
of  some  importance,  but  of  a  lower  rank,  were  that  of  the 
Fratres  Arvales,  a  college  of  twelve  priests  attached  to  the 
cult  of  Ceres,  who  celebrated  a  festival  to  her  as  the  Dea 
dia  (divine  goddess)  in  the  early  summer  time  ;  and  that  of 
the  Luperci,  or  "  wolf-expellers,"  a  shifting  body  of  persons, 
whose  chief  business  it  was  to  conduct  the  Lupercalia,  a 
festival  held  annually  on  the  15th  of  February,  in  honor  of 
Lupercus,  or  Faunas.  The  Sodales  Titii  had  duties  similar 
to  those  of  the  Fratres  Arvales  ;  and  the  Flamines  Curiales, 
thirty  in  number,  offered  sacrifices  for  the  preservation  of 
the  thirty  curies  of  the  original  Roman  people. 

From  these  collegia  of  priests,  we  must  carefully  dis- 
tinguish the  learned  corporations,  "  colleges  of  sacred  lore," 
as  they  have  been  called,*  who  had  no  priestly  duties,  and 
no  special  connection  with  any  particular  deity.  There  were 
four  principal  colleges  of  this  kind — those  of  the  Pontifices, 
the  Augurs,  the  Fetials,  and  the  Duumviri  sacrorum. 

The  Pontifices,  originally  four  (or  five,  if  we  include  the 
pontifex  maximus),  but  afterwards  raised  to  nine,  and 
ultimately  to  sixteen,  had  the  general  superintendence  of 
religion.  They  exercised  a  control  over  all  the  priests,  even 
the  Flamens.  They  were  supposed  to  be  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  traditions  with  regard  to  the  appro- 
priate worship  of  each  divinity ;  to  tinderstand  the  mysteries 
of  numbers,  and  to  be  deeply  versed  in  astronomy — whence 
th'-y  settled  the  calendar,  determining  when  each  festival 
\v.is  to  be  held,  and  what  days  -were  fasti  or  nefasti,  i.e.,  days 
suitable  for  the  transaction  of  business,  or  the  contrary.  All 
prodigies  and  omens  had  to  be  reported  to  them  ;  and  with 
them  it  lay  to  determine  what  steps  should  be  taken  to 
appease  the  gods  in  connection  with  each.  They  had  to 
furnish  the  proper  formula  on  all  great  religious  occasions, 

*  Mommsen,  vol.  i.  pp.  87  and  175. 


168  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

as  the  dedication  of  a  temple,*  the  self-devotion  of  a  general,] 
and  the  like.  There  was  no  appeal  from  their  decisions,  un 
less  in  some  cases  to  the  people  ;  and  they  could  enfora 
obedience  by  the  infliction  of  fines,  and,  under  certain  cir 
cumstances,  of  death. 

The  Augurs,  originally  four,  like  the  Pontiffs,  and  raised 
like  them,  first  to  nine  and  later  to  sixteen,  were  regardec 
as  possessed  especially  of  the  sacred  lore  connected  \vitl 
birds.  Augural  birds  were  limited  in  number,  and  were 
believed  to  give  omens  in  three  ways,  by  flight,  by  note,  01 
by  manner  of  feeding.  The  Augurs  knew  exactly  what  coil' 
stituted  a  good,  and  what  a  bad,  omen  in  all  these  ways, 
They  were  consulted  whenever  the  State  commenced  any 
important  business.  No  assembly  could  be  held,  no  election 
could  take  place,  no  war  could  be  begun,  no  consul  could 
quit  Rome,  no  site  for  a  new  temple  could  be  fixed  on, 
unless  the  Augurs  were  present,  and  pronounced  that  the 
birds  gave  favorable  omens.  In  war,  they  watched  the  feed- 
ing of  the  sacred  chickens,  and  allowed  or  forbade  engage- 
ments, according  as  the  birds  ate  greedily  or  the  contrary. 
Divination  from  celestial  phenomena,  especially  thunder 
and  lightning,  was,  at  a  comparatively  late  date,  added  to 
their  earlier  functions.  As  their  duties  enabled  them  to  ex- 
ercise a  veto  upon  laws,  and  very  seriously  to  influence 
elections,  the  office  was  much  sought  after  by  candidates  for 
political  power,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  highest  digni- 
ties in  the  State. $ 

The  Fetials,  a  college  of  (probably)  twenty  persons, 
were  the  living  depositary  of  international  law  and  right. 
All  the  treaty  obligations  of  Rome  and  her  neighbors  were 
supposed  to  be  known  to  them,  and  it  was  for  them  to 
determine  when  a  war  could  be  justly  undertaken,  and  what 
reparation  should  be  demanded  for  injuries.  Not  only  did 
they  furnish  the  forms  for  demanding  satisfaction, §  declar- 
ing war,  |!  and  making  peace,1F  but  their  own  person'nl  inter- 
vention was  requisite  in  every  case.  Invested  with  a  sacred 
character,  they  were  the  intermediaries  employed  by  the 
State  in  making  complaints,  proclaiming  war,  and  seeing 
that  treaties  were  concluded  with  the  proper  formalities.  In 
the  conclusion  of  such  engagements  they  even  acted  as 

»  Liv.  I.  40. 

t  Ibid.  v.  iii.  9;  x.  28.  J  Cic.  T)e  Leg.  ii.  12. 

§  L,v.  i.  32.  ||  Ibid.  T  Ibid.  i.  24. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WOULD.      169 

veritable  priests,  slaying  with  their  own  hands  the  victims, 
by  offering  which  a  sacred  character  was  driven  to  treaty 
obligations. 

The  Duumviri  sacrorum  were  the  keepers,  consulters,  and 
interpreters  of  the  Sibylline  books,  a  collection  of  pretended 
prophecies,  written  in  Greek,  and  no  doubt  derived  from  a 
Greek  source.  They  were,  as  their  names  implies,  a  colle- 
gium of  two  'persons  only,*  and  in  the  early  times  were  re- 
quired to  be  Romans  of  a  very  high  rank.  As  such  persons, 
not  unfrequently,  were  very  ignorant  of  the  Greek,  the 
State  furnished  them  with  two  slaves  well  acquainted  with 
the  language.  It  was  customary  to  consult  the  Sibylline 
books  in  case  of  pestilence,  or  of  an  extraordinary  pi'odigy, 
and  to  follow  scrupulously  the  advice  which  they  were 
thought  to  give  in  reference  to  the  occasion. 

Such  was  the  learned  colleges  of  ancient  Rome.  Though 
exercising  considerable  political  influence,  they  never  became 
dangerous  to  the  State,  from  the  circumstance  that  they 
could  in  no  case  take  the  initiative.  Their  business  was 
to  give  answers  to  inquirers ;  and,  until  consulted,  they 
were  dumb.  Private  persons  as  well  as  public  officers  might 
appeal  to  them  ;  and  calls  were  frequently  made  on  them  to 
bring  forth  their  secret  knowledge  into  the  light  of  day  by 
the  magistrates.  But  it  was  of  their  essence  to  be  con- 
sultative, and  not  initiative,  or  even  executive  bodies. 
Hence,  notwithstanding  the  powers  which  they  wielded,  and 
the  respect  in  which  they  were  held,  they  at  no  time  became 
a  danger  to  the  State.  Sacerdotalism  plays  no  part  in  Roman 
history.  "  Notwithstanding  all  their  zeal  for  religion,  the 
Romans  adhered  with  unbending  strictness  to  the  principle, 
that  the  priest  ought  to  remain  completely  powerless  in  the 
State,  and  excluded  from  command,  ought,  like  any  other 
burgess,  to  render  obedience  to  the  humblest  magistrate."  f 

The  public  religion  of  the  Romans  consisted,  mainly,  in 
the  observance  by  the  State  of  its  obligation  (relif/io)  to 
provide  for  the  cult  of  certain  traditional  deities,  which  it 
did  by  building  temples,  establishing  priesthoods,  and  se- 
curing the  continuance  of  both  by  endowments.  Further, 
the  State  showed  a  constant  sense  of  religion  by  the  posi- 
tion which  it  assigned  to  augury,  and  the  continual  need  of 

*  The  office  was  subsequently  expanded  into  that  of  the  decemviri 
•acris  faciundis,  who  ultimately  became  quindecimviri. 
t  Mommsen,  "  History  of  Rome,"  vol.  i.  p.  180. 


170  EELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS.  . 

"  taking  the  auspices "  on  all  important  civil  occasional 
111  declaring  war,  religious  formula?  were  used ;  in  con- 
ducting it,  the  augurs,  or  their  .subordinates,  were  fre- 
quently consulted ;  in  bringing  it  to  an  end  and  establishing 
peace,  the  fetials  had  to  be  called  in,  and  the  sanction  of 
religion  thus  secured  to  each  pacific  arrangement.  The 
great  officers  of  the  State  were  inducted  into  their  posts 
with  religious  solemnities,  and  were  bound  to  attend  and 
take  their  part  in  certain  processions  and  sacrifices.  In 
times  of  danger  and  difficulty  the  State  gave  orders  for 
special  religious  ceremonies,  to  secure  the  favor  of  the 
gods,  or  .avert  their  wrath. 

The  religion  of  the  mass  of  the  people  consisted  princi- 
pally in  four  things:  1.  Daily  offerings  by  each  head  of  a 
household  (paterfamilias)  to  the  Lares  of  his  own  house. 
The  Lares  were  viewed  as  household  gods,  who  watched 
over  each  man's  hearth  and  home,  each  house  having  its 
own  special  Lares.  In  theory  they  were  the  spirits  of  an- 
cestors, and  their  chief,  the  Lar  familiaris,  was  the  spirit 
of  the  first  ancestoi-,  the  oi-iginator  of  the  family ;  but 
practically  the  ancestral  idea  was  not  prominent.  In  re- 
spectable houses  there  was  always  a  lararium,*  or  "lar- 
chapel,"  containing  the  images  of  the  Lares ;  and  each  re- 
ligious Roman  commenced  the  day  with  prayer  in  this 
place,  accompanying  his  prayer,  upon  most  occasions,  with 
offerings,  which  were  placed  before  the  images  in  little 
dishes  (patella^).  The  offerings  were  continually  renewed 
at  meal-times ;  and  on  birthdays  and  other  days  of  rejoicing 
the  images  were  adorned  with  wreaths,  and  the  lararia 
were  thrown  open.  2.  Occasional  thank-offerings  to  par- 
ticular gods  from  persons  who  thought  they  had  been 
favored  by  them.  These  were  carried  to  the  temples  by 
the  donors,  and  made  over  to  the  priests,  who  formally 
offered  them,  with  an  accompaniment  of  hymns  and 
prayers.  3.  Vows  and  their  performance.  To  obtain  a 
particular  favor  from  a  god  supposed  to  be  capable  of  grant- 
ing it,  a  Roman  was  accustomed  to  utter  a  vow,  by  which 
he  bound  himself  to  make  the  god  a  certain  present,  in 
case  he  obtained  his  desire.  The  present  might  be  a  tem- 

*  The  Emperor  Alexander  Sevonis  had  two  lararia,  and  included 
amongst  the  Lares  of  the  one,  Abraham,  Orpheus,  Alexander  the 
Great,  and  Christ;  amongst  those  of  the  other,  Achilles,  Cicero,  and 
Virgil. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      171 

pie,  or  an  altar,  or  a  statue,  or  a  vase,  or  any  other  work 
of  art,  but  was  almost  always  something  of  a  permanent 
character.  The  Roman,  having  made  his  vow,  and  got  his 
wish,  was  excessively  scrupulous  in  the  discharge  of  his 
obligation,  which  he  viewed  as  of  the  most  binding  char- 
acter. 4.  Attendance  at  religious  festivals — the  Carmen- 
talia,  Cerealia,  Compitalia,  Consualia,  Floralia,  Lemuralia, 
Lupercalia,  etc.  This  attendance  was  in  no  sense  obligatory, 
and  was  viewed  rather  as  pleasure  than  duty — the  festivals 
being  usually  celebrated  with  games  (ludi)  and  other  amuse- 
ments. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  Roman  religion,  as  compared  with 
others,  and  especially  with  that  of  the  Greeks,  strikes  us  as 
dull,  tame,  and  matter-of-fact.  There  is  no  beauty  in  it, 
no  play  of  the  imagination,  and  very  little  mystery.  It  is 
"of  earth,  earthly."  Its  gods  are  not  great  enough,  or 
powerful  enough,  to  impress  the  mind  of  the  worshipper 
with  a  permanent  sense  of  religious  awe — they  do  not 
force  the  soul  to  bow  down  before  them  in  humility  and 
self-abasement.  The  Roman  believes  in  gods,  admits  that 
he  receives  benefits  from  them,  allows  the  duty  of  grati- 
tude, and,  as  a  just  man,  punctually  discharges  the  obliga- 
tions of  his  religion.*  But  his  creed  is  not  elevating — it 
does  not  draw  him  on  to  another  world — it  does  not  raise 
in  him  any  hopes  of  the  future.  Like  the  Sadducee,  he 
thinks  that  God  rewards  and  punishes  men,  as  He  does 
nations,  in  this  life ;  his  thoughts  rarely  turn  to  another ; 
and  if  they  do,  it  is  with  a  sort  of  shiver  at  the  prospect  of 
becoming  a  pale  shade,  haunting  the  neighborhood  of  the 
of  the  tomb,  or  dwelling  in  the  cold  world  beneath,  shut 
out  from  the  light  of  day. 

If  the  Roman  religion  may  be  said  to  have  had  any- 
where a  deeper  character  than  this — to  have  been  mys- 
terious, soul-stirring,  awful — it  was  in  connection  with  the 
doctrine  of  expiation.  In  the  bright  clime  of  Italy,  and 
in  the  strong  and  flourishing  Roman  community,  intensely 
conscious  of  its  own  life  and  vigor,  the  gods  could  not  but 
be  regarded  predominantly  as  beneficent  beings,  who 
showered  blessings  upon  mankind.  But  occasionally,  under 
special  circumstances,  a  different  feeling  arose.  Earth- 
quakes shook  the  city,  and  left  gre.at  yawning  gaps  in  its 

*  Note  the  idea  of  obligation  as  predominant  in  the  word 
"  religion,  "  from  re  and  U-yo  or  liyo,  "  to  bind  "  or  "  tie." 


172  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ROMANS. 

streets  or  squares  ;  the  Tiber  overflowed  its  banks,  and  in. 
undated  all  the  low  regions  that  lay  about  the  Seven 
Hills ;  pestilence  broke  out,  destroying  thousands,  and 
threatening  to  carry  off  the  entire  people ;  or  the  fortune 
of  war  hung  in  suspense,  nay,  even  turned  against  the 
warrior  nation.  At  such  times  a  sense  of  guilt  arose,  and 
pressed  heavily  on  the  consciences  of  the  Romans ;  they 
could  not  doubt  that  Heaven  was  angry  with  them ;  they 
did  not  dare  to  dispute  that  the  Divine  wrath  was  provoked 
by  their  sins.  Then  sacrifice,  which  in  Rome  was  generally 
mere  thank-offering,  took  the  character  of  atonement  or  ex- 
piation. The  gods  were  felt  to  require  a  victim,  or  victims  ; 
and  something  must  be  found  to  content  them — something 
of  the  best  and  dearest  that  the  State  possessed.  What  could 
this  be  but  a  human  sacrifice  ?  Such  a  sacrifice  might  be 
either  voluntary  or  involuntary.  Enhanced  by  the  noble 
quality  of  patriotic  self-abnegation,  a  single  victim  sufficed 
— more  especially  if  he  were  of  the  best  and  noblest — a 
young  patrician  of  high  promise,  like  Marcus  Curtius,*  or 
an  actual  consul,  like  the  Decii.f  Without  this  quality 
there  must  be  several  victims — either  a  sacred  and  com- 
plete number,  like  the  thirty,  once  offered  annually  at  the 
Lemuralia,  whereof  the  thirty  rush  dolls  thrown  yearly  into 
the  Tiber  were  a  reminiscence,  or  else  an  indefinite  num- 
ber, such  as  the  gods  themselves  might  determine  on,  as 
when  a  "  ver  sacrum  "  was  proclaimed,  and  all  offspring, 
both  of  men  and  of  sacrificial  cattle,  produced  within  the 
first  month  of  opening  spring  (Aprilis,  were  devoted  to 
death  and  sacrificed  to  avert  God's  wrath  from  the  na- 
tion.J 

The  mythological  fables  in  which  the  Greeks  indulged 
from  a  very  early  date  were  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Romans,  who  had  no  turn  for  allegory,  and  regarded  the 
gods  with  too  much  respect  and  fear  to  invent  tales  about 
them.  No  traditional  accounts  of  the  dealings  of  the  gods 
one  with  another  gave  a  divine  sanction  to  immorality,  or 
prevented  the  Romans  from  looking  up  to  their  divinities 
as  at  once  greater  and  better  than  themselves.  The  moral 
law  was  recognized  as  an  accepted  standard  with  them, 
and  its  vindication  whenever  it  was  transgressed  rested 

•  Liv.  vii.  0.  t  Ibid.  vii.  0;  x.  28. 

4  See  Festm,  sub  vor.  "  Ver  sacrum,"  and  compare  Liv.  xxiii.  9, 
10;  xxxiv.  44;  Servius  ad  Virg.  ^En.  vii.  790,  etc. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     1/3 

with  the  deity  within  whose  special  sphere  the  offence  was 
conceived  to  fall.  Hercules  avenged  broken  faith ;  Ops 
and  Ceres  punished  the  lazy  cultivator ;  ill-conducted  ma- 
trons incurred  the  anger  of  Juno  ;  the  violation  of  parental 
or  filial  duty  fell  under  the  cognizance  of  Jupiter.  When- 
ever conduct  was  felt  to  be  wrong,  yet  the  civil  law  visited 
the  misconduct  with  no  penalty,  the  displeasure  of  the 
gods  supplemented  the  legal  defect,  and  caused  the  offender 
in  course  of  time  to  meet  with  due  punishment.  Their 
belief  on  this  head  was,  in  part,  the  effect,  but  it  was  also, 
in  part,  the  cause  of  those  profound  moral  convictions 
which  distinguished  the  Romans  among  ancient  nations. 
They  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  reality  of  moral  dis- 
tinctions, and  convinced  that  sin  was  in  all  cases  followed 
by  suffering.  The  stings  of  conscience  received  inereased 
force  and  power  from  the  belief  in  a  Divine  agency  that 
seconded  the  judgments  of  conscience,  and  never  failed  to 
punish  offenders.* 

It  is  not  the  object  of  the  present  work  to  trace  the 
changes  which  came  in  course  of  time  over  the  Roman  rc- 
ligiou,  or  even  to  note  the  corrupting  influences  to  which  it 
was  exposed.  The  subject  of  "  Ancient  Religions  "  is  so 
large  a  one,  that  we  have  felt  compelled  to  limit  ourselves 
in  each  of  our  portraitures  to  the  presentation  of  the  re- 
ligion in  a  single  aspect,  that  namely,  which  it  wore  at  the 
full  completion  of  its  natural  and  national  development. 
To  <lo  more,  to  trace  each  religion  historically  from  its  first 
appearance  to  its  last  phase,  would  require  as  many  chapters 
as  we  have  had  pages  at  our  disposal.  The  influence  of  re- 
ligions upon  each  other  is  a  matter  of  so  much  difficulty, 
delicacy,  and  occasional  complexity,  that  it  would  necessi- 
tate discussions  of  very  considerable  length.  An  exhaus- 
tive work  on  the  history  of  religions  would  have  to  em- 
brace this  ample  field,  and  must  necessarily  run  to  several 
volumes.  In  the  present  series  of  sketches,  limited  as  we 
have  been  as  to  space,  we  have  attempted  no  more  than  the 
fringe  of  a  great  subject,  nnd  have  sought  to  awaken  the 
curiosity  of  our  readers  rather  than  to  satisfy  it. 

*  Hor.  Od.  iii.  2,  11. 31,  32;  Tibull.  Cariu.  i.  9, 1. 4. 


174  CONCLUDING  EEMAEKS. 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

IT  has  been  maintained  in  the  "  Introduction  "  to  this 
work,  that  the  time  is  not  yet  come  for  the  construction  of 
a  "  Science  of  Religion,"  and  that  the  present  need  is  rather 
to  accumulate  materials,  out  of  which  ultimately  such  a 
science  may  perjiaps  be  evolved.  Still,  the  accumulation 
of  materials  naturally  suggests  certain  thoughts  of  a  more 
general  character ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  Baconian  philosphy 
does  not  forbid  the  drawing  of  inferences  from  groups  of 
phenomena,  even  while  the  greater  portion  of  the  pheno- 
mena are  unknown  or  uninvcstigated.  While,  therefore,  we 
abstain  from  basing  any  positive  theory  upon  a  survey  of 
religions  which  is  confessedly  incomplete,  we  think  that 
certain  negative  conclusions  of  no  little  interest  may  be 
drawn  even  from  the  data  now  before  us ;  and  these  nega- 
tive conclusions  it  seems  to  be  our  duty  to  lay  before  the 
reader,  at  any  rate  for  his  consideration. 

In  the  first  place,  it  seems  impossible  to  trace  back  to 
any  one  fundamental  conception,  to  any  innate  idea,  or  to 
any  common  experience  or  observation,  the  various  religions 
which  we  have  been  considering.  The  veiled  monotheism 
of  Egypt,  the  dualism  of  Persia,  the  shamanism  of  Etruria, 
the  pronounced  polytheism  of  India,  are  too  contrariant, 
too  absolutely  unlike,  to  admit  of  any  one  explanation,  or  to 
be  derivatives  from  a  single  source.  The  human  mind 
craves  unity  ;  but  Nature  is  wonderfully  complex.  The 
phenomena  of  ancient  .religions,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
investigated,  favor  the  view  that  religions  had  not  one 
origin,  but  several  distinct  origins. 

Secondly,  it  is  clear  that  from  none  of  the  religions  hero 
treated  of  could  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  have 
originated.  The  Israelite  people  at  different  periods  of  its 
history  came,  and  remained  for  a  considerable  time,  under 
Egyptian,  Babylonian,  and  Persian  influence;  and  tin-re 
have  not  been  wanting  persons  of  ability  wbo  have  regarded 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.      175 

u  Judaism  "  as  a  mere  offshoot  from  the  religion  of  one  or 
other  of  these  three  peoples.  But,  with  the  knowledge  that 
we  have  now  obtained  of  the  religions  in  question,  such 
views  have  been  rendered  untenable,  if  not  henceforth  im- 
possible. Judaism  stands  out  from  all  other  ancient  relig- 
ions, as  a  thing  sui  generis,  offering  the  sharpest  contrast 
to  the  systems  prevalent  in  the  rest  of  the  East,  and  so 
entirely  different  from  them  in  its  essence  that  its  origin 
could  not  but  have  been  distinct  and  separate. 

Thirdly,  the  sacred  Books  of  the  Hebrews  cannot  pos- 
sibly have  been  derived  from  the  sacred  writings  of  any  of 
these  nations.  No  contrast. can  be  greater  than  that  be- 
tween the  Pentateuch  and  the  "  Ritual  of  the  Dead,"  un- 
less it  be  that  between  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Zendavesta, 
or  between  the  same  work  and  the  Vedas.  A  superficial 
resemblance  may  perhaps  be  traced  between  portions  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  certain  of  the  myths  of  ancient  Babylon  ; 
but  the  tone  and  spirit  of  the  two  are  so  markedly  different, 
that  neither  can  be  regarded  as  the  original  of  the  other. 
When  they  approach  most  nearly,  as  in  the  accounts  given 
of  the  Deluge,  while  the  facts  recorded  are  the  same,  or 
nearly  the  same,  the  religious  stand-point  is  utterly  unlike.* 

Fourthly,  the  historic  review  which  has  been  here  made 
lends  no  support  to  the  theory,  that  there  is  a  uniform 
growth  and  progress  of  religions  from  the  fetishism  to  poly- 
theism, from  polytheism  to  monotheism,  and  from  monothe- 
ism to  positivism,  as  maintained  by  the  followers  of  Comte. 
None  of  the  religions  here  described  shows  any  signs  of 
having  been  developed  out  of  fetishism,  unless  it  be  the 
sliMinunism  of  the  Etruscans.  In  most  of  them  the  mono- 
theistic idea  is  most  prominent  at  the  first,  and  gradually 
becomes  obscured,  and  gives  way  before  a  polytheistic  cor- 
ruption. In  all  there  is  one  element,  a  least,  which  appears 
to  be  traditional,  viz.,  sacrifice,  for  it  can  scarcely  have  been 
by  the  exercise  of  his  reason  that  man  came  so  generally  to 
believe  that  the  superior  powers,  whatever  they  were, 
would  be  pleased  by  the  violent  death  of  one  or  more  of 
their  creatures. 

Altogether,  the  theory  to  which  the  facts  appear  on  the 
whole  to  point,  is  the  existence  of  a  primitive  religion,  com- 
municated to  man  from  without,  whereof  monotheism  and 

•  Compare  above,  pp.  68-72;  and  see  the  Author's  Essay  iu  "  Aids 
to  Faith."  Essay  vi.,  pp.  275,  270. 


176  CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

expiatory  sacrifice  were  parts,  and  the  gradual  clouding 
over  of  this  primitive  revelation  everywhere,  unless  it  were 
among  the  Hebrews.  Even  among  them  a  worship  of 
Teraphim  crept  in  (Gen.  xxxi.  19-35),  together  with  other 
corruptions  (Josh.  xxiv.  14)  ;  and  the  terrors  of  Sinai  wore 
needed  to  clear  away  polytheistic  accretions.  Elsewhere 
degeneration  had  free  play.  "  A  dark  cloud  stole  over 
man's  original  consciousness  of  the  Divinity  ;  and,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  own  guilt,  and  estrangement  of  the  creature 
from  the  one  living  God  took  place  ;  man,  as  under  the 
overpowering  sway  of  sense  and  sensual  lust,  proportion- 
ally weakened,  therefore,  in  his  moral  freedom,  was  unable 
any  longer  to  conceive  of  the  Divinity  as  a  pure,  spiritual, 
supernatural,  and  infinite  Being,  distinct  from  the  world, 
and  exalted  above  it.  And  thus  it  followed,  inevitably, 
that,  with  his  intellectual  horizon  bounded  and  confined 
within  the  limits  of  nature,  he  should  seek  to  satisfy  the  in- 
born necessity  of  an  acknowledgment  and  reverence  of  the 
Divinity  by  the  deification  of  material  nature  ;  for  even  in 
its  obscuration,  the  idea  of  the  Deity,  no  longer  recognized, 
indeed,  but  still  felt  and  perceived,  continued  powerful ; 
and,  in  conjunction,  with  it,  the  truth  struck  home,  that 
the  Divinity  manifested  itself  in  nature  as  ever  present  and 
in  operation."  *  The  cloud  was  darker  and  thicker  in  some 
places  than  in  others.  There  were,  perhaps,  races  with 
whom  the  whole  of  the  past  became  a  tabula  rasa,  and  all 
traditional  knowledge  being  lost,  religion  was  evolved 
afresh  out  of  the  inner  consciousness.  There  were  others 
which  lost  a  portion,  without  losing  the  whole  of  their  in- 
herited knowledge.  There  were  others  again  who  lost 
scarcely  anything ;  but  hid  lip  the  truth  in  mystic  language 
and  strange  symbolism.  The  only  theory  which  accounts 
for  all  the  facts — for  the  unity  as  well  as  the  diversity  of 
Ancient  Religions,  is  that  of  a  primeval  revelation,  vari- 
ously corrupted  through  the  manifold  and  multiform  deteri- 
oration of  human  nature  in  different  races  and  places. 

•  Dollinger,  "  Jew  and  Gentile,"  vol.  i.  p.  65. 


INDEX. 


Aratus  quoted,  136 
Asherahs,  118 

ASSYRIANS  AND  BABYLONIANS: 

Astral  Deities,  47-49 
Belief  in  a  future  life,  53,  45 

Deities: 

Auata,  or  Anat,  45 
Anu,  39 
Asshur,  36-38 
Bel,  40,  41 
Bilat.  45 
Dav-kina,  45 
Gula,  or  Anunit,  4(5 
Hea,  or  Hoa,  41 
II.  or  Ra,  37 
Ishtar,  49,  50,  59-61 
Merodach,  47,  4« 
Nebo,  50 
Nergal,  48,  49 
Nin,  or  Bar,  47-49 
Shala,  or  Tala,  52 
Sliai i i;is.  43 
Sin.  42-44 
Vul,  42,  43 

Lesser  gods,  51 

Legends: 

Creation  (Berosus),  55-57 

Deluge,  57-59 

Descent  of  Ishtar  into  Hades, 

59-C1 

Izdubar,  50 
War  iu  heaven,  55,  50 

Polytheism,  35 
Prayers,  52,  53 
Sacrifices,  52,  53 
Superstitions,  54 
Temples,  52 
Triads,  38 
Worship.  52-54 


Astronomers,  conjectures  of,  1 

Baal,  etymology  of,  102,  103 
Babylon,  etymology  of,  109 
Balak  quoted,  110 

Belief  in  a  future  life  : 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  53, 54 

Egyptian,  28-31 

Etruscan,  124-126 

Iranian,  74,  75 

Roman,  171 

Sanskritic  Indian,  96-99 

Bridge  of  the  gatherer,  legend  of,  74 
Bunsen's  list  of  Egyptian  Deities, 
17  n. 

Creation,  legend  of  (Berosus),  55-57 

Dagpn,  etymology  of,  108 
Darius,  sculptures  on  the  tomb  of ,  71 
Degradation  of  religion,  17(5 
Deluge,  legends  of,  41,  57-59 
Dualism  of  Iranians,  06,  74,  75 

EGYPTIANS,  ANCIENT  : 

Belief  in  a  future  life,  28-31 
Classification  of  deities,  14,  16 
Dead,  treatment  of  the,  30 

Deities : 

Ammon,  17 

Khem,  18 

Kncuh,  18 

Neith,  or  Net,  21 

Osiris,  20 

Phthah,  19 
•      Ra,  20,  21 

Animal  gods,  24,  25 

Nature  gods,  22 

Malevolent  gods,  23,  24 

Moon  gods,  22 

Sun  gods,  21,  22 

Bunsen's  list  of,  17  n. 

Wilkinson's  list  of,  17  n. 


178 


Index. 


EGYPTIANS— continued. 

Embalming,  30 

Evil,  belief  in,  32 

Hynms,  32 

Polytheism,  14,  15 

Priests,  knowledge  of,  31 

Sacrifices,  24,  25 

Temples,  26 

Theological  system  of  educated 

classes,  31,  34 
Tombs,  30 
Triads,  24,  33,  34 
Trinity,  supposed  doctrine  of,  33 
Worship,  21-26 

ETRUSCANS : 

Belief  in  a  future  life,  125,  126 
Deities : 

Charun, 124 
Cupra,  122 

Mantus  and  Mania,  124 
Menrva,  or  Menrfa,  122 
Tina,  or  Tinia,  121 
Usil  and  Losna,  123 
Elemental  gods,  123, 124 
Genii,  or  spirits,  126 
Lares,  the,  128 
Native  gods,  123 
Novensiles,  the,  124 

Priests,  126-130 
Sacrifices,  128 
Superstition,  121,  128 
Tombs.  128 
Worship,  126-130 

Etymologies : 

Ahura-Mazda,  66,  67 
Angro-Mainyus,  67,  68 
Baal,  102,  103 
Babylon,  109 
Dagon,  107,  108 
Melchizedek,  102 
Pharaoh,  20 
Sennacherib,  43 

Eusebius,  Extracts  from  "Evan- 
gelical Preparation,"  on  Phoeni- 
cian Religion,  100,  101 

Fire,  Discovery  of,  113 
Inscriptions,  120  « 

GREKKS,  ANCIENT  : 
Deities: 

Aphrodite,  }4~ 
Apollo,  I:M,  HO 
Ares,  140    ' 
ArK'inis.  146 


Deities — continued. 

Athene".  145 
Demeter,  149 
Dionysus,  150,  151 
Hades,  151 
Hephaestus,  141, 142 
Hera,  144 
Hermes,  142 
Hestia,  149 
Leto,  or  Latona,  151 
Persephone',  151 
Poseidon,  137-139 
Zeus,  134-137 
Lesser  Gods,  132-134 
Classification  of.  132-134 

Festivals,  152,  153 

Hymns,  152 

Joyousness  of  Worship,  152,  153 

Legend  of  the  "  Lay  of  the  Net," 

141 

Nature  Worship,  132-134  .     . 

Mysteries,  154 
Polytheism,  132 
Prayers,  152 
Sacrifices,  154 
Vows,  152 
Worship,  132-134,  150-155 

Hebrews,  origin  of  religion  of,  174 

Henotheism,  42,  85 

Hittites  or  Khita,  the  God  of,  33 

Hymns : 

Egyptian,  32 

Iranian,  75,  76 

Sanskritic  Indian,  89-91,  97 

Idzubar,  legend  of,  50 
IRANIANS  : 

Belief  in  a  future  life,  74 
Dead,  treatment  of  the,  80,  81 

Deities : 

Ahura-Mazda,  66  * 

Ahuras,  the,  67 

Angro-Mainyus,  67 

Amesha-Spentas,  the,  68 

Devas.  the.  69 
Dualism,  65,  66,  74 
Elemental  worship,  78,  80 
Fire-worship,  78-82 
Gathas,  extracts  from,  75-77 
Early  home  of,  63,  64 
Homa,  or  Haoma,  ceremony  of,  72 
Hymns,  (55.  75, 76 
Iiifjustry,  73 

Legend   of    the    Bridge    <;f    the 
gatherer,  74 


Index. 


179 


IRANIANS — continued. 

Magism  among  the,  77-82 

Morality,  75 

Parsees,  Go 

Position  of  man  in   cosmic 

scheme,  71 
Prayers,  71 

Priests,  Magian,  78,  79 
Purity,  73 

Religion  not  idolatrous,  69,  80 
Resurrection,  74 
Sacrifices,  71,  78 
Veracity,  78 
Water-worship,  78 
Worship,  78-83 
Winged  circle,  69 
Zendavesta,  the,  65 
Zoroaster,  64 

Ishtar,  descent  of  into  Hades,  60-02 
"  Lay  of  the  Net,"  legend  of,  142 

Magisni,  77-83 

Melchizedek,  etymology  of,  102 
Mesa,  inscription  of,  104 
Metals,  origin  of  working  in,  118 
Milton  quoted.  14S  149 
Moloch,  or  Molech,  103,  110 

•'(Enone,"  quotation  from,  147 

Parsees,  65 

Philo  Byblius,  works  of,  101 
Philologists,  comparative,   views 
of,  1 

PHCENICIANS  and  CARTHAGINIANS  : 
Asherahs,  118 

Babylon,  etymology  of,  109 
Bset'yli,  117 
Balak  quoted,  116 

Dciter,: 

A  lonis,  or  Tarnmuz,  109 

A  MI i inn.  114 

Ashtoreth,    or   Astarte,    49, 

103,  100 
Baal.  102-105 
Baaltis,  111 
Dagon,  107,  108 
El,  109 
Eshmun.  113 
Kabiri,  the,  113 
Melkarth,  107 
Moloch,  or  Molech,  103,  110 
Osiris,  114 
Sa.lyk,  113 

Shamas,  or  Shemesh,  110 
Tanith,  or  Tanath,  114,  115 


PHOENICIANS— continued. 

Etymology  of  names,  101-103 
Festivals,  119 
Licentiousness,  115 
Original  worship  monotheistic, 

103-106 

Pillar  worship,  118 
Polytheism,  101,  103 
Sacrifices.  116,  119 
Sun-worship,  110 
Temples,  117 
Worship.  109,  115-119 
"  Poenulus  "  of  Plautus  quoted,  104 

Polytheism : 

Ancient,  14,  15 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  35,  37 

Egyptian.  15 

Greek.  131-134 

Phoenician,  100, 101 

Sanskritic  Indian,  83-85 

Prayers  : 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  35,  36 

Greek,  152 

Iranian,  71 

Roman,  170 

Sanskritic  Indian,  93-95 

Religion,  history  of,  11-13 
Science  of,  9,  174-176 
Origin  of,  174 
Degradation  of,  176 

Resurrection  of  the  body  not  held 
by  the  Iranians,  74 

ROMANS,  ANCIENT  : 

Belief  in  a  future  life,  171 
Capitoline  Triad,  the,  159 
Classification  of  Deities,  157,  165, 
166 

Collegia  :  the 

Augurs,  167,  168 

Duumviri  sacrorum,  169 

Fetials,  168 

Pontitices,  167 

Flamines,  Curiales,  166 

Fratres  Arvales,  167 

Luperci,  167 

Salii  Colliiii,  or  Agonales,  160 

Salii  Palatini,  166 

Sodales  Titii,  167 

Vestal  Virgins,  167 


180 


Index. 


Deities : 

Ceres,  161 

Hercules,  163 

Juup,  158 

Jupiter,  157 

Mars,  159 

Mercurius,  164 

Minerva,  217,  218 

Neptunus,  164 

Ops,  163 

Saturnus,  162 

Vesta,  161 

Abstract   qualities,  gods   of 

the,  165 

Country,  gods  of  the,  165 
Grecian  gods,  165,  166 
Nature  gods,  165 
State,  gods  of  the,  166 
Lares,  170 

Dimajores,  157 

Expiation,  doctrine  of,  171,  172 

Festivals,  171 

Flamines,  the,  166 

Hymns,  170 

Moral  law  recognized,  172 

Prayers,  170 

Priests,  166 

Religion,  character  of,  170,  172 

Sacrifices,  172 

State  religion,  169 

Thank-offerings,  170 

Vows,  170 

Worship,  166, 170 

Sacrifices : 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  5.3 

Egyptian,  28 

Etruscan,  127,  128 

Grecian,  154 

Phoenician  and  Carthaginian, 

116-119 
Roman,  172 

SANSKRITIC  INDIANS  : 
Belief  in  a  future  life,  96,  98 
Deities : 

Agni,  87,  89 
Dyaus,  s'.t 
Indra,  80,  87 
Mitra,  8(5,  87 
*  Nature  gods,  86 
Prithivi,  89 
Soma,  89.  92 
Surya,  90 


Deities — continued. 

Ushas,  115 
Varuna,  86 
Vayu,  91 

Lesser  gods,  89 

Fire  worship,  87,  88 
Henotheism,  or  Kathenotheism. 

85 

Hymns,  93,  96,  97 
Libations,  95 
Mantras,  93 
Offerings,  95,  96 
Polytheism,  83-86 
Prayers,  93,  94 
Priests,  93 
Sacrifices,  94,  95 
Soma  plant,  92 
Vedic  poems,  extracts  from, 

97-100 
Worship,  92-99 

Superstitions: 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  54 
Etruscan,  120,  129,  130 

Temples: 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  52 

Egyptian,  26 

Phoenician  and  Carthaginian,  117 

Teraphim,  worship  of,  176 
Tombs: 

Egyptian,  29,  30 
Etruscan,  125, 128.  129 
Trinity,    supposed    Egyptian   doc- 
trine of  the,  33 

War  in  heaven,  legend  of,  55 
Wilkinson's  list  of  Egyptian  dei- 
ties, 17  n. 

Worship: 

Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  52-54 

Egyptian,  24-26 

Etruscan,  120-127 

Grecian,  132-134,  150-155 

Iranian,  78-82 

Phoenician     and     Carthaginian, 

109,  115-119 
Roman,  166,  170 
Sanskritic  Indian,  92-99 

Zendavesta,  the,  65 
Zoroaster,  69 


EGYPT  AND  BABYLON 


FROM 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  SOURCES 


GEORGE  RAWLINSON,  M.  A. 

Author  of  "Seven  Great  Monarchies  of  the  Ancient  Eastern 
World,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK : 
UNITED  STATES  BOOK  COMPANY 

SUCCESSORS  TO 

JOHN    W.    LOVELL    COMPANY 

150  WORTH  ST.,  COR.  MISSION  PLACE 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  FAGB 

NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  THE  BOOK  OF  GENESIS,  .     .      7 

CHAPTER  II. 
NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN   THE  BOOKS  OF  KINGS  AND 

CHRONICLES,       15 

CHAPTER  III. 

FURTHER  NOTICES    OF  BABYLON    IN    THE    BOOKS   OF 

KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES, 24 

CHAPTER  IV. 
NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  DANIEL, 33 

CHAPTER  V. 
FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  DANIEL,       ...    41 

CHAPTER  VI. 

I  Yin  HER   NOTICES   OF  BABYLON   IN  DANIEL,     ...    50 

CHAPTER  VII. 
NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  JEREMIAH  AND  EZEKIEL,     .    60 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  EZEKIEL,     ...    69 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

FURTHER  NOTICES   OF  BABYLON  IN  DANIEL,      ...     79 

CHAPTER  X. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  DANIEL,      ...     88 

CHAPTER  XI. 
NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  DANIEL,  ISAIAH,  JEREMIAH, 

AND  EZEKIEL, 96 

CHAPTER  XII. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  ISAIAH  AND  JERE- 
MIAH,      105 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  GENESIS, 113 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  GENESIS,     .    .    .      123 

CHAPTER  XV. 
NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  EXODUS, 132 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  EXODUS,     ....  141 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  EXODUS  AND  NUMBERS,      .    .  150 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  EXODUS,     .    .    .    .15 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  KINGS,     168; 

CHAPTER  XX. 
NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  KINGS,  177 


CONTENTS.  5 

'           CHAPTER  XXI.  PAGE 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  ix  ISAIAH, 186 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  ix  JEREMIAH  AXD  EZEKIEL,  .     .  195 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  ix  DAXIEL, »  .     .  204 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  ix  DANIEL,     .    s  .    .  213 


t 

I         EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

CHAPTER  I. 

NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IX  THE  BOOK  OP  GENESIS. 

"  Cush  begat  Nimrod:  he  began  to  be  a  mighty  one  in  the  earth. 
He  was  a  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord:  wherefore  it  is  said,  Even 
as  Nimrod,  the  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord.  And  the  beginning 
of  his  kingdom  was  Babel,  and  Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Calneh,  in 
the  land  of  Shinar.— GEN.  x.  8-10. 

THAT  this  passage  refers  to  Babylon  will  scarcely  be  dis- 
puted. The  words  "  Babel "  and  "  Shinar  "  are  sufficient 
proof.  "  Babel,"  elsewhere  generally  translated  "  Babylon  " 
(2  Kings  xx.  12  ;  xxiv.  1  ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  31  ;  xxxiii.  11 ; 
Ps.  cxxxvii.  1,  etc.),  is  the  exact  Hebrew  equivalent  of  the 
native  Babil,  which  appears  as  the  capital  of  Babylonia  in 
the  cuneiform  records  from  the  time  of  Agu-kak-rimi  (about 
B.  c.  2000)  to  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  Cyrus  (B.  c. 
538).  "  Shinar  "  is  probably  an  equivalent  of  "  Mesopotamia," 
"the  country  of  the  two  rivers,"  and  in  Scripture  always 
designates  the  lower  part  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates 
valley,  the  alluvial  plain  through  which  the  great  rivers 
flow  before  reaching  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Four  facts  are  recorded  of  Babylonia  in  the  passage : — 
1.  That  it  became  at  a  very  early  date  a  settled  govern- 
ment under  a  king ;  2.  That  it  contained,  besides  Babylon, 
at  least  three  other  great  cities — Erech,  Accad,  Calneh  ;  3. 
That  among  its  earliest  rulers  was  a  great  conquering  mon- 
arch named  Nimrod ;  and  4.  That  tliis  monarch,  and  there- 
fore probably  his  people,  descended  from  Cush — ?'.<?.,  was  a 
Cushite,  or  Ethiopian. 


8  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  first  of  these  facts  is  confirmed  by  Berosus,  by  Dio« 
dorus  Sieulus,  and  by  the  monuments.  Berosus  declared  that 
a  monarchy  had  been  set  up  in  Babylon  soon  after  the  flood, 
which  he  regarded  as  a  real  occurrence,  and  counted  208 
kings  from  Evechoiis,  the  first  monarch,  to  Pul,  the  prede- 
cessor of  Tiglath-Pileser.  Diodorus  believed  that  Babylon 
had  been  built  by  Semiramis,  the  wife  of  Ninus,  at  a  date 
which,  according  to  his  chronology,  would  be  about  B.C. 
2200.  The  monuments  furnish  above  ninety  names  of  kings 
anterior  to  Tiglath-Pileser,  and  carry  back  the  monarchy  by 
actual  numerical  statements  to  B.C.  2286,  while  the  super- 
position of  the  remains  is  considered  by  the  explorers  to 
indicate  an  even  greater  antiquity.  An  early  Babylonian 
kingdom,  once  denied  on  the  authority  of  Ctesias,  is  now 
generally  allowed  by  historians ;  the  researches  of  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson,  Mr.  George  Smith,  Professor  Sayce,  Mr.  Pinches, 
and  others,  having  sufficiently  established  the  fact  previously 
questioned. 

The  second  fact — the  early  existence  of  several  large 
cities  in  Babylonia,  cities  ranking  almost  upon  a  par — 
is  also  strongly  supported  by  the  native  records.  In  the 
most  ancient  times  to  which  the  monuments  go  back,  the 
chief  cities,  according  to  Mr.  George  Smith,*  were  TTr, 
Nipur,  Karrak,  and  Larsn,  all  of  them  metropolitan,  and  all 
of  them  places  giving  their  titles  to  kings.  Somewhat  later, 
Babylon  and  Erech  rose  to  greatness,  together  with  a  city 
called  Agade,  or  Accad,  according  to  the  same  authority  .f 
If  this  last  identification  be  allowed,  then  three  out  of  the 
four  cities  mentioned  in  Genesis  as  metropolitan  at  this 
early  date  will  have  the  same  rank  in  the  native  records, 
and  one  only  of  the  four  names  will  lack  such  direct  con- 
firmation. Certainly,  no  name  at  all  resembling  Calneh 
occurs  in  the  primitive  geography  ot  Babylonia.  There 
are,  however,  grounds  for  regarding  Calneh  as  another  name 
of  Nipur, t  and  one  which  superseded  it  for  a  time  in  the 
nomenclature  of  the  inhabitants.  In  this  case  we  may  say 
that  all  the  four  cities  of  Genesis  x.  10  are  identified,  and 
shown  to  have  had  (about  n.  r.  2000)  the  eminence  ascribed 
to  them  in  that  passage.  Mr.  George  Smith's  reading  of 
'•  Agade  "  is,  however,  questioned  by  some,  who  read  the 

*  "History  of  Babylonia"  (edited  by  hev.  A.  II.  Sayce),  ch.  iii., 
pp.  63-74.  t  Ibid.,  p.  61. 

I  Smith's  "  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  ad  voc.  Calneh. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  9 

name  "  AganeV'     If  this  latter  reading  be  correct,  the  city 
Accad  must  be  regarded  as  at  present  not  identified. 

The  third  fact — the  reign  of  a  powerful  king,  called 
Nimrod,  over  Babylonia  has  not  as  yet  received  any  con- 
firmation from  the  monuments.  It  is  suspected  that  the 
monarch  so  called  had  two  names,  and  that,  while  Scripture 
uses  one  of  them,  the  Babylonian  documents  employ  the 
other.  Mr.  George  Smith  proposed  to  identify  the  scrip- 
tural Nimrod  with  a  certain  Izdubar,  a  semi-mythical,  semi- 
historical  personage,  very  prominent  in  the  primitive  legends. 
But  the  identification  is  a  pure  conjecture.  The  monuments 
must  be  regarded  as  silent  with  respect  to  Nimrod,  and  we 
must  look  elsewhere  for  traces  of  his  existence  and  authority. 
Such  traces  are  numerous  in  the  traditions  of  the  East,  and 
among  the  early  Jewish  and  Arabic  writers.  Josephus  tells 
us  that  Nimrod  lived  at  the  time  when  the  attempt  was 
m:i«U>  to  build  the  Tower  of  Babel,  and  represents  him  as 
the  prime  mover  in  that  impious  enterprise.  The  Moham- 
junliins  have  a  tradition  that  he  lived  somewhat  later,  and 
was  brought  into  contact  with  Abraham,  whom  he  at- 
tempted to  burn  to  death  in  a  furnace  of  fire.  In  Arabian 
astronomy  he  appears  as  a  giant  who  at  his  decease  was 
translated  to  heaven,  and  transformed  into  the  constellation 
which  the  Arabs  called  El  Jabbar,  "  the  Giant,"  and  the 
Greeks  Orion.  These  tales  have,  of  course,  but  little  value 
in  themselves  ;  they  are  merely  important  as  showing  how 
large  a  space  this  monarch  occupied  in  the  imaginations  of 
the  Eastern  races,  a  fact  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  his 
having  once  filled  a  prominent  position.  That  position  is 
declared  in  the  "  Nabathojan  Agriculture,"  an  Arabic  work 
of  great  antiquity,  to  have  been  the  position  of  a  king  the 
founder  of  a  dynasty  which  long  bore  sway  over  the  land. 
Another  sign  of  the  reality  of  Nimrod's  rule  is  to  be  found 
in  the  attachment  of  his  name  to  various  sites  in  the  Meso- 
potamian  region.  The  remarkable  ruin  generally  called 
Akkcrkuf,  which  lies  a  little  to  the  south-west  of  Baghdad, 
is  known  to  many  as  the  "  Tel-Nimrud  ;  "  the  great  dam 
across  the  Tigris  below  Mosul  is  the  "  Sahr-el-Nimrud  ; " 
one  of  the  chief  of  the  buried  cities  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood is  called  "  Nimrud  "  simply ;  and  the  name  of  "  Birs- 
Nitnrud  "  attaches  to  the  the  grandest  mass  of  ruins  in  tho 
lower  country.  * 

*See  Rich's  "  Journey  to  Babylon,"  p.  2.  note. 


10  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  fourth  fact — that  Nimrod,  and  therefore  probably  his 
people,  was  of  Cushite  origin,  has  been  strenuously  denied 
by  some,  even  among  modern  critics.*  But  ancient  classical 
tradition  and  recent  linguistic  research  agree  in  establishing 
a  close  connection  between  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  lower 
Mesopotamian  plain  and  the  people,  which,  under  the  vari- 
ous names  of  Cushites,  Ethiopians,  and  Abyssinians,  has 
long  been  settled  upon  the  middle  Nile.  Memnon,  king 
of  Ethiopia,  according  to  Hesiod  and  Pindar,  led  an  army 
of  combined  Ethiopians  and  Susianians  to  the  assistance  of 
Priam,  king  of  Troy.  Belus,  according  to  the  genealogists, 
was  the  son  of  Libya  (or  Africa)  ;  he  married  Anchinoe, 
daughter  of  Nilus,  and  had  issue  JEgyptus.  Names  which 
are  modifications  of  Cush  have  always  hung  about  the  lower 
Mesopotamian  region,  indicating  its  primitive  connection 
with  the  Gush  upon  the  Nile.  The  Greeks  called  the  Susi- 
anians "  Kissii,"  and  a  neighboring  race  "  Kossaei."  The 
early  Babylonians  had  a  city,  "  Kissi,"  and  a  leading  tribe  in 
their  country  was  called  that  of  the  "  Kassu."  Even  now 
the  ancient  Susiania  is  known  as  "  Khuzistan,"  the  land  of 
Khuz,  or  of  the  Cushites.  Standing  alone,  these  would  be 
weak  arguments ;  but  weight  is  lent  them  by  the  support 
which  they  obtain  from  the  facts  of  language.  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson,  the  first  translator  of  primitive  Babylonian  docu- 
ments, declares  the  vocabulary  employed  to  be  "  decidedly 
Cushite  or  Ethiopian,"  and  states  that  he  was  able  to  inter- 
pret the  inscriptions  chiefly  by  the  aid  which  was  furnished 
to  him  from  published  works  on  the  Galla  (Abyssinian)  and 
the  JVIahra  (South  Arabian)  dialects. f 

"  The  .whole  earth  was  of  one  language  and  of  one  speech.  And 
it  came  to  pass,  as  they  journeyed  from  the  cast  [eastward,  marg.],  that 
they  found  a  plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar;  and  they  dwelt  there.  And 
they  said  one  to  another,  Go  to,  let  us  make  hrick,  and  burn  them 
throughly.  And  they  had  brick  for  stone,  and  slime  had  they  for 
mortar.  And  they  said,  Go  to,  let  us  build  us  a  city  and  a  tower, 
whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven;  and  let  iis  make  us  a  name,  lest 
we  be  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  And  the 
Lord  came  down  to  see  the  city  and  the  lower,  which  the  children  of 
men  huilded.  And  the  Lord  said,  Behold,  the  people  is  one,  and  they 
have  all  one  language  ;  and  this  they  begin  to  do;  and  now  nothing 
will  be  restrained  from  them,  which  they  have  imagined  to  do.  Go 
to,  let  us  go  down,  and  there  confound  their  language,  that  they  may 
not  understand  one  another's  speech.  So  the  Lord  scattered  them 

*  See  Bunsen's  "Philosophy  of  History, "  vol.  Hi.,  pp.  100,  191. 
t  See  the  author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.,  p.  441. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  H 

abroad  from  thence  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth ;  and  they  left  off 
to  build  the  city.  Therefore  is  the  name  of  it  called  Babel,  because 
the  Lord  did  there  confound  the  language  of  all  the  earth;  and  from 
thence  did  the  Lord  scatter  them  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the 
earth."— GE*T.  xi.  1-9. 

We  have  here  the  scriptural  account  of  the  meaning  of 
the  name  "  Babel,"  the  jmmitive  term  which  the  Greeks 
converted  into  "  Babylon,"  but  which  remains  even  now 
attached  to  a  portion  of  the  ruins  that  mark  the  site  of  the 
great  city,  almost  in  its  original  form.*  The  etymology  was 
not  accepted  by  the  Babylonians  themselves,  who  wrote  the 
word  in  a  way  which  shows  that  they  considered  it  to  mean 
"  the  Gate  of  God."  This  has  been  regarded  by  some  as  a 
contradiction  of  the  scriptural  account ;  but  we  may  recon- 
cile the  two  by  supposing  either  that  the  name  was  first 
given  in  scorn,  and  that  afterwards  a  better  meaning  was 
found  for  it,  or  (more  probably)  that  the  word,  having  been 
intended  by  the  Babylonians  themselves  in  the  sense  of  "the 
Gate  of  God,"  was  from  the  first  understood  in  a  different 
sense  by  others,  who  connected  it  with  the  "  confusion  "  of 
tongues.  The  word  is  capable  of  both  etymologies,  and  may 
from  the  first  have  been  taken  in  both  senses  by  different 
persons. 

The  account  of  the  origin  of  the  name  is  connected  with 
an  historical  narrative,  of  which  the  following  are  the  chief 
incidents: — 1.  A  body  of  men,  who  had  occupied  the  plain 
of  Shinar,  disliking  the  idea  of  that  dispersion  which  was 
continually  taking  place,  and  scattering  men  more  and  more 
widely  over  the  earth,  determined  to  build  a  city,  and  to 
adorn  it  with  a  lofty  tower,  in  order  that  they  might  get 
themselves  a  name,  and  become  a  centre  of  attraction  in  the 
world.  2.  The  materials  which  they  found  to  their  hand, 
and  which  they  employed  in  building,  were  burnt  brick  and 
"slime,"  or  bitumen.  3.  They  had  built  their  city,  and 
raised  their  tower  to  a  certain  height,  when  God  interfered 
Avith  their  Avork.  By  confounding  the  language  of  the  Avork- 
meu,  He  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  understand  each 
other's  speech,  and  the  result  Avas  that  the  design,  for  the. 
time  at  least,  fell  through.  The  people  "  left  off  to  build 
the  city,"  and  the  mass  of  them  dispersed,  and  "were  scat- 
tered abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  earth." 

*  The  northernmost  of  the  three  gre.-.t  mounds  which  mark  th« 
ruins  of  Babylon  is  called  by  the  Arabs  Babil. 


12  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

It  would  not  hare  been  surprising  if  profane  history  had 
contained  no  notice  of  this  matter.  It  belongs  clearly  to  a 
very  remote  antiquity,  a  time  anterior — as  it  might  have 
been  supposed — to  records,  and  lost  in  the  dark  night  of 
ages.  But  the  fact  seems  to  be  that  the  Babylonians  either 
recorded  at  the  time,  or  at  any  rate  bore  in  memory,  the 
transaction.  Two  Greek  writers,  who  drew  their  Baby- 
lonian histories  from  native  sources,  noticed  the  occurrence, 
and  gave  an  account  of  it,  which  is  in  most  respects  very 
close  to  the  biblical  narrative.  Alexander  Polyhistor  said, 
that  "  Once  upon  a  time,  when  the  whole  race  of  mankind 
were  of  one  language,  a  certain  number  of  them  set  to  work 
to  build  a  great  tower,  thinking  to  climb  up  to  heaven  ;  but 
God  caused  a  wind  to  blow,  and  cast  the  tower  down,  at  the 
same  time  giving  to  every  man  his  own  peculiar  speech.  On 
which  account  the  city  was  called  Babylon."  Abydcnus,  a 
somewhat  later  historian,  treated  the  subject  at  greater 
length.  "  At  this  time,"  he  said,  "  the  ancient  race  of  men 
were  so  puffed  up  with  their  strength  and  tallness  of  stature, 
that  they  began  to  despise  and  contemn  the  gods,  and  la- 
bored to  erect  that  very  lofty  tower,  which  is  now  called 
Babylon,  intending  thereby  to  scale  heaven.  But  when  the 
building  approached  the  sky,  behold,  the  gods  called  in  the 
aid  of  the  winds,  and  by  their  help  overthrew  the  tower,  and 
cast  it  to  the  ground.  The  name  of  the  ruins  is  still  called 
Babel ;  because  until  this  time  all  men  had  used  the  same 
speech,  but  now  there  was  sent  upon  them  a  confusion  of 
many  and  diverse  tongues." 

These  passages  have  long  been  known,  and  have  been  ad- 
duced as  probable  evidence  that  the  native  Babylonian  records 
contained  a  notice  respecting  the  tower  of  Babel  and  the  con- 
fusion of  human  speech.  But  it  is  only  recently  that  such  a 
record  has  been  unearthed.  Among  the  clay  tablets  brought 
from  Babylonia  by  Mr.  George  Smith,  and  deposited  in  the 
British  Museum,  is  one  unfortunately  much  mutilated,  which 
seems  clearly  to  have  contained  the  Babylonian  account  of 
the  matter.  The  main  portions  of  this  document  are  as 
follows : — 

"Babylon  corruptly  to  sin  wont,  and 

Small  and  great  wens  mingled  on  the  mound  ; 
Babylon  corruptly  to  sin  went,  and 

Small  and  great  were  mingled  on  the  mound. 

•  *  «  * 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  13 

Their  work  all  day  they  builded; 
But  to  their  stronghold  in  the  night 

Entirely  an  end  God  made, 
la  His  anger  also  His  secret  counsel  He  poured  forth, 

He  set  His  face  to  scatter; 
He  gave  command  to  make  strange  their  speech; 

Their  progress  He  impeded. 

*  *  *  * 

In  that  day  He  blew,  and  for  [all]  future  time 

The  mountain  (was  demolished  ?); 
Lawlessness  stalked  forth  abroad ; 

And,  though  God  spake  to  them, 
Men  went  their  ways,  and  strenuously 

Opposed  themselves  to  God. 
He  saw,  and  to  the  earth  came  down; 

No  stop  he  made,  •while  they 

Against  the  gods  revolted 

*  *  *  * 

Greatly  they  wept  for  Babylon; 
Greatly  they  wept."  * 

"  It  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  Amraphel,  king  of  Shinar,  Arioch, 
king  of  Ellasar,  Chedorlaomer,  king  of  Elam,  and  Tidal,  king  of 
nations,  that  these  made  war  with  Bera,  king  of  Sodom,  and  with 
Birsha,  king  of  Gomorrah,  Shinab,  king  of  Admah,  and  Shemeber, 
king  of  Zeboiim,  and  the  king  of  Bela,  which  is  Zoar.  All  these  were 
joined  together  in  the  vale  of  Siddim.  which  is  the  salt  sea.  Twelve 
years  tlTey  served  Chedorlaomer." — GEX.  xiv.  1-4. 

The  chief  fact  relating  to  Babylon,  which  this  passage 
contains,  is  its  subjection  in  the  time  of  Abraham  to  a  neigh- 
boring country  called  here  Elam.  Amraphel,  the  king  of 
Shinar,  the  country  whereof  Babylon  was  the  capital  (Gen. 
x.  10 ;  xi.  2-9),  is  plainly,  in  the  entire  narrative  (Gen.  xiv. 
L-17),  secondary  and  subordinate  to  Chedorlaomer,  king  of 
Elam.  The  conquered  monarchs  "  serve "  Chedorlaomer 
(ver.  4),  not  Amraphel ;  Chedorlaomer  leads  both  expedi- 
tions, the  other  kings  are  "  with  him "  (vers.  5,  17),  as  sub- 
ordinate allies,  or,  more  probably,  as  tributaries.  This  is  an 
inversion  of  the  usual  position  occupied  by  Babylonia  towards 
its  eastern  neighbor,  of  which,  until  recently,  there  was  no 
profane  confirmation. 

Recently,  however,  traces  have  been  found  of  anElamitio 
conquest  of  Babylon,  and  also  of  an  Elamitic  dynasty  there 
at  an  early  date,  which  show  that  there  were  times  when  the 
more  eastern  of  the  two  countries  which  lay  side  by  side  upon 
the  Lower  Tigris  had  the  greater  power,  and  exercised  do- 
minion over  the  more  western.  Asshur-bani-pal,  the  son  of 

*  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viL,  pp.  131, 132. 


14  EGYPT  AND  BABYLOtf. 

Esar-haddon,  relates  that  in  his  eighteenth  year  (B;  c.  651) 
he  restored  to  the  Babylonian  city  of  Erech  certain  images 
of  gods,  which  had  been  carried  off  from  them  as  trophies  of 
victory  1635  years  previously  by  Kudur-Nakhunta,  king  of 
Elam,  to  adorn  his  capital  city  of  Susa.  The  primitive 
Babylonian  monuments  also  show  a  second  conquest  of 
Babylon  from  the  same  quarter,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
dynasty  there,  which  is  known  as  "  Elamite,"  *  about  n.  c. 
1600,  or  a  little  later.  This  dynasty  consisted  of  two  kings, 
Kudur-Mabuk  and  Rim-agu  (a  name  which  has  been  compared 
with  "Arioch"). 

It  is  thus  evident  that  Elam  was,  in  the  early  period  of 
Babylonian  history,  a  country  of  about  equal  power  with 
Babylon,  and  one  which  was  able  from  time  to  time  to  ex- 
ercise dominion  over  her  neighbor.  It  appears  also  that  its 
kings  affected,  as  one  of  the  elements  in  their  names,  tho 
word  "Chedor"  or  "  Kudur,"  which  is  believed  to  have 
meant  "  servant," — Chedorlaomer  (or  Chedor-Lagamer,  as 
the  word  might  be  transliterated)  being  "the  servant  of 
Lagamer,"  a  Susianian  god,  Kudur-Nakhunta,  "  the  servant 
of  Nakhunta,"  another  god  ;  and  Kudur-Mabuk,  "  the  servant 
of  Mabuk,"  a  goddess.  We  may  add,  that  "  Amor  "  (Amra 
in  "  Amra-phel ")  appears  also  as  a  root  in  the  early  Baby- 
lonian titles,  f  while  Arioch  is  perhaps  identical  with  the 
name  of  Rim-agu  (or  Eriaku),  Kudur-Mabuk' s  son  and  suc- 
cessor. Thus  the  notice  in  Gen.  xiv.  1-4,  without  being 
directly  confirmed  by  the  monuments,  is  in  close  harmony 
with  them,  both  Linguistic  and  historical. 

*  George  Smith's  "  History  of  Babylonia,"  pp.  11,  74. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  10. 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  15 


CHAPTER  II. 

NOTICES      OF      BABYLON"      IX      THE      BOOKS      OF     KINGS      AND 
CHRONICLES. 

SCRIPTURE  is  silent  on  the  subject  of  Babylon  through 
the  whole  period  from  Genesis  to  Kings.*  Israel,  during 
the  sojourn  in  Egypt,  the  wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  the 
time  of  the  Judges,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  time  of  the 
Kings,  was  never  brought  in  contact  with  Babylonia  or 
Babylonians  ;  and  Scripture,  which  traces  the  religious 
history  of  the  people  of  God,  has  therefore  no  occasion  to 
mention  the  southern  Mesopotamian  power.  Another  power 
has  interposed  itself  between  Israel  and  Babylon — the  great 
empire  of  Assyria — and  has  barred  the  path  by  which  alone 
they  could  readily  communicate.  It  is  not  till  Assyria, 
nncTer  the  Sargonida3,  is  seriously  threatening  the  independ- 
ence of  both  countries,  that  a  common  danger  brings  them 
together,  and  Babylon  once  more  claims  the  attention  of  the 
sarrrd  historians.  The  first  notice  of  Babylon  in  the  Books 
of  Kings  is  the  following : — 

"  At  that  time  "  [the  time  of  Hezekiah's  illness]  "  Berodach- 
Baladan,  the  sou  of  Baladan,  King  of  Babylon,  sent  letters  and  a  pres- 
ent unto  Hczekiah  :  for  he  had  heard  that  llezekiah  had  been  sick. 
And  Hczekiah  hearkened  unto  them,  and  showed  them  all  the  house 
of  his  precious  things,  the  silver,  and  the  gold,  and  the  spices,  and 
the  precious  ointment,  and  all  the  house  of  his  armor,  and  all  that 
was  found  in  his  treasures  :  there  was  nothing  in  his  house,  nor  in  all 
his  dominion,  that  Hezekiah  showed  them  not." — 2  Kings  xx.,  12.  13. 

The  same  circumstance  is  related,  almost  in  the  same 
words,  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  in  one  of  his  historical  chap- 
ters.  Isaiah  says — 

"  At  that  time  Merodach-Baladan,  the  son  of  Baladan,  king  cf 
Babylon,  sent  letters  and  a  present  to  Hezekiah  ;  for  he  had  heard 
that  he  had  been  sick,  and  was  recovered.  And  Hezekiah  teas  ylad 
of  them,  and  showed  them  the  house  of  his  precious  things,  the 
silver,  and  the  gold,"  etc. — ISA.  xxxix.  1,  2. 

*  The  "  Babylonish  garment  "  coveted  by  Achan  ( Josh.vii.  21) 
scarcely  constitutes  an  exception. 


16  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  author  of  Chronicles,  without  relating  the  circum- 
stance, makes  a  short  comment  upon  it.  After  describing 
the  riches,  honor,  and  prosperity  of  Hezekiah,  he  adds — 

"  Howbeit  in  the  business  of  the  ambassadors  of  the  princes  of 
Babylon,  who  sent  unto  him  to  inquire  of  the  wonder  that  was  done 
in  the  land,  God  left  him,  to  try  him,  that  he  might  know  all  that  was 
in  his  heart." — 2  CHRON.  xxxii.  31. 

The  reign  of  a  Babylonian  monarch,  called  Merodach- 
Baladan,  at  about  the  period  indicated — the  latter  part  of 
the  eighth  century  B.  c. — is  recorded  in  the  famous  "  Canon 
of  Ptolemy,"  which  assigns  him  the  years  between  B.  c.  722 
and  B.  c.  710.  That  the  same  monarch,  after  being  deprived 
of  his  throne,  was  restored  to  it,  and  had  a  second  reign  of 
six  months'  duration,  is  related  by  Alexander  Polyhistor,  the 
friend  of  Sulla.*  This  latter  reign  appears  to  have  belonged 
to  the  year  B.  c.  703.  So  much  is  known  to  us  from  the 
classical  writers.  From  the  Assyrian  monuments  we  learn 
that  the  relations  between  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  during 
the  reign  of  Merodach-Baladan,  were  hostile.  Sargon  re- 
lates that  he  attacked  this  king,  whom  he  viewed  as  a  rebel, 
in  his  first  year,  t  defeated  his  ally,  the  king  of  Elam,  and 
ravaged  his  territory,  but  without  coming  into  contact  with 
the  Babylonian  monarch  himself.  After  this,  troubles  else- 
where forced  him  to  leave  Merodach-Baladan  in  peace  for 
eleven  years;  but  in  his  twelfth  year  he  again  invaded 
Babylonia,  took  Babylon,  and  made  Merodach-Baladan  apris- 
oner.t  Five  years  after  this,  as  we  learn  from  Sennacherib's 
annals,§  on  the  death  of  Sargon,  Babylonia  revolted.  Mero- 
dach-Baladan, escaping  from  the  custody  in  which  he  was 
held,  hastened  to  Babylon,  r.nd  re-established  his  authority 
over  the  whole  southern  kingdom.  But  Sennacherib  at  once 
marched  against  him,  defeated  his  forces,  recovered  Babylon, 
and  drove  him  to  take  refuge  in  the  marshes  of  southern 
Chaldaea  ;  whence,  after  a  short  time,  he  fled  across  the 
Persian  Gulf  to  southern  Elam,  where  he  died  in  exile. 

The  embassy  of  Merodach-Baladan  to  Hezekiah  falls,  by 
Archbishop  Usher's  chronology,  which  is  here  founded  xipon 
Ptolemy's  Canon,  into  the  year  B.  c.  713.  It  would  thus 

*  Ap.  Euseb.  "  Chron.  Can."  pars,  i.,  c.  5.  Both  reigns  are  noticed 
In  a  recently  deciphered  Babylonian  tablet.  ("Proceedings  of  the 
Society  of  Bibl.  Archreology  "  for  1884,  pp.  169-8.) 

t  George  Smith,  "  History  of  Babylonia,  p.  116. 

J  Ibid.,  p.  123.  §  Ibid.,  p.  125. 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  17 

have  taken  place  between  Sargon's  first  and  second  attack, 
very  shortly  before  the  latter.  The  monuments  do  not 
mention  it  ;  but  they  show  that  at  this  time  Merodach-Bala- 
d:in  \vas  expecting  the  Assyrians  to  invade  his  country,  was 
looking  out  for  allies,  and  doing  his  best  to  strengthen  his 
position.  Under  these  circumstances  it  would  be  natural 
that  he  should  seek  the  alliance  of  Hezekiah,  who,  at  the  op- 
posite end  of  the  Assyrian  dominions,  had  "  rebelled  against 
the  king  of  Assyria,  and  served  him  not "  (2  Kings  xviii. 
7).  That  he  should  cloak  his  design  under  the  double  pre- 
text that  his  object  was  to  congratulate  the  Jewish  king  on 
his  recovery  from  a  dangerous  illness  (Isa.  xxxix.  1),  and  to 
inquire  concerning  the  astronomical  "  wonder  done  in  the 
land  "  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  31),  is  intrinsically  probable,  being 
consonant  with. diplomatic  practice  both  in  the  East  and  in 
the  West.  An  astronomical  marvel,  such  as  that  of  the  go- 
ing back  of  the  shadow  on  the  dial  of  Ahaz  (2  Kings  xx.  11 ; 
Isa.  xxxviii.  8),  would  naturally  attract  attention  in  Baby- 
lonia, where  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens  were  observed 
with  the  utmost  diligence  from  a  very  remote  period. 

It  must  not  be  concealed  that  there  is  one  important  dis- 
crepancy between  the  scriptui-al  narrative  and  the  history 
of  Merodach-Baladan,  as  recorded  upon  the  Assyrian  monu- 
ments. Merodach-Baladan  is  stated,  both  by  Isaiah  and  by 
the  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  to  have  been  "  the  son 
of  Baladan" — on  the  monuments  he  is  always  called  "  the 
son  of  Yakina,"  or  "  Yakin."  Mr.  George  Smith  has  sug- 
gested that  Yakin  was  the  name  of  the  tribe  whereto 
Merodach-Baladan  belonged ;  *  but  it  can  scarcely  be  argued 
that  he  was  called  "  son  of  Yakin  "  on  this  account.  Yakin 
must  have  been  a  person  ;  and  if  not  the  actual  father  of 
Merodach-Baladan,  at  any  rate  one  of  his  progenitors.  Per- 
haps the  true  explanation  is,  that  Yakin  was  a  more  or  less 
remote  progenitor,  the  founder  of  the  house,  and  Baladan 
(Bel-iddina  ?)  the  actual  father  of  Merodach-Baladan.  By 
the  former  designation  he  was  popularly  known,  by  the  latter 
in  his  official  communications. 

"  The  Lord  spake  to  Manasseh  and  to  his  people,  but  they  would 
not  hearken.  Wherefore  the  Lord  brought  upon  them  the  captains  of 
the  host  of  the  king  of  Assyria,  which  took  Manasseh  among  the  thorns, 
and  bound  him  with  fetters,  to  carry  him  to  Babylon.  And  when  he 
was  in  affliction,  he  besought  the  Lord  his  God,  and  humbled  himself 

•  "  History  of  Babylonia,"  p.  113. 


18  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

greatly  before  the  God  of  his  fathers  ;  and  he  prayed  unto  Him,  and 
He  was  intreated  of  him,  and  heard  his  supplication,  and  brought 
him  again  to  Jerusalem  into  his  kingdom." — 2  CHBON.  xxxiii.  10-13. 

It  appears  by  this  passage,  1.  That  Manasseh,  after  hav- 
ing provoked  God  by  a  long  course  of  wicked  conduct,  was 
attacked  and  made  prisoner  by  the  generals  of  a  king  of 
Assyria,  who  "  took  him  among  the  thoras,"  or  rather 
"  took  him  with  hooks,"  and  bound  him  with  fetters  and 
so  carried  him  with  them  to  Babylon  ;  2.  That  after  hav- 
ing suffered  captivity  for  a  time,  and  repented  of  his 
wickedness,  he  was  allowed  by  the  king  of  Assyria  to  quit 
Babylon,  and  return  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  was  once  more 
established  in  his  kingdom.  Three  things  are  especially  re- 
markable in  this  narrative :  (a)  the  generals  of  the  Assyrian 
monarch  conduct  Manasseh  to  their  master,  not  at  Nineveh, 
but  at  Babylon  •  (b)  they  bring  him  into  the  royal  presence 
"  with  hooks"  and  fettered ;  \c)  by  an  act  of  clemency, 
very  unusual  in  the  East,  the  Assyrian  king  pardons  him. 
after  a  time,  and  goes  so  far  as  to  reinstate  him  in  his  gov- 
ernment. We  have  to  consider  what  light  profane  history 
throws  upon  these  facts. 

And,  first,  how  comes  a  king  of  Assyria  to  hold  his  court 
at  Babylon?  Nineveh  is  the  Assyrian  capital,  and  ordinarily 
the  court  is  held  there.  If  not  there,  it  is  held  at  Dur-sargina, 
where  Sargon  built  himself  a  palace,  or  at  Calah  (Nimrud), 
where  were  the  palaces  of  Asshur-izir-pal,  Shalmaneser  II., 
and  Tiglath-Pileser  II.  What  has  caused  the  anomaly  of 
a  transfer  of  the  court  to  the  capital  of  another  country? 
The  Assyrian  records  fully  explain  this  circumstance.  Sen- 
nacherib, Hezekiah's  contemporary,  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Esar-haddon,  who  would  thus  be  Manassch's  contempo- 
rary. The  Assyrian  monuments  tell  us  that  this  monarch 
inaugurated  a  new  policy  with  respect  to  Babylonia.  ]\Iost 
Assyrian  kings  who  found  themselves  strong  enough  to  re- 
duce that  country  to  subjection,  governed  it  by  means  of  a 
native  or  Assyrian  viceroy ;  and  this  was  the  plan  adopted 
by  Sennacherib,  Esar-haddon's  father.  But  Esar-haddon, 
when  he  came  to  the  throne,  acted  differently.  He  assumed 
the  double  title  of  "  King  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia,"  ap- 
pointed no  viceroy,  but,  having  built  himself  a  palace  in 
Babylon,  reigned  there  in  person,  holding  his  court  some- 
times at  the  northern,  sometimes  at  the  southern  capital. 
Towards  the  end  of  his  life,  he  relinquished  Nineveh  alto- 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  19 

gcther  to  his  eldest  son,  Asshur-bani-pal,  and  contented  him- 
self with  ruling  the  southern  kingdom  from  his  palace  in 
Babylon.*  The  anomaly  is  thus  fully  explained,  and  what 
once  apeared  a  difficulty  turns  out  a  confirmation. 

What  our  translators  intended  to  be  understood  by  the 
expression,  "  which  took  Manasseh  among  the  thorns,"  is 
perhaps  doubtful.  But  they  convey  to  most  minds  the  idea 
of  a  caitiff  monarch  endeavoring  to  hide  himself  from  his 
pursuers  in  a  thorny  brake,  but  detected,  and  dragged  from 
his  concealment.  The  words  in  the  original  have  no  snch 
meaning.  D'HiPl  (kMIthim),  the  term  translated  "  thorns," 
is  indeed  capable  of  that  rendering ;  but  it  has  also  another 
sense,  much  more  suitable  to  the  present  context.  Gesenius  f 
explains  it  as  "  instrumcntum  ferreum,  circulus  vel  hamus,  in 
mod  urn  spinas,  aucleatrc  quo  olim  captivi  figebantur,  et  quo 
Turcje  suos  captivos  dctincnt  vinctos."  In  the  singular  number 
the  word  is  translated  "  hook"  in  Job  xli.  2  ;  and  a  term  nearly 
identical,  khdkh  has  the  same  rendering  in  2  Kings  xix. 
28  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  29 ;  Ezek.  xxix.  4  ;  xxxviii.  4,  etc.  These 
passages  sufficiently  fix  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  used  in 
Chronicles.  The  captains  of  the  king  of  Assyria  "  took 
Manasseh  away  with  hooks"  (comp.  Amos  iv.  2),  and  hav- 
ing also  "  bound  him  with  fetters,"  brought  him  into  the 
presence  of  Esar-haddon. 

The  practice  of  bringing  prisoners  of  importance  into  the 
presence  of  a  conquering  monarch  by  means  of  a  thong  at- 
tached to  a  hook  or  ring  passed  through  their  upper  or  their 
under  lip,  or  both,  is  illustrated  by  the  sculptures  both  of 
Babylonia  and  Assyria.  Sargon  is  seen  in  his  palaces  at 
Khorsabad  receiving  prisoners  whose  lips  are  thus  perforat- 
ed ;  |  and  one  of  the  few  Babylonian  sculptures  still  extant 
shows  us  a  vizier  conducting  into  the  presence  of  a  monarch 
t  w.i  captives  held  in  durance  in  the  same  way.§  Cruel  and 
barbarous  as  such  treatment  of  a  captured  king  seems  to  us, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  an  Assyrian  usage.  To  put  a 
hook  in  a  man's  mouth,  and  a  bridle  in  his  jaws  (2  Kings 
xix.  28),  was  no  metaphor  expressive  of  mere  defeat  and 
capture,  but  a  literal  description  of  a  practice  that  was  com- 
mon in  the  age  and  country — a  practice  from  which  their 
royal  rank  did  not  exempt  even  captured  monarchs. 

*  G.   Smith,  "  History  of  Babylon,"  pp.  141,  142. 

t  "  Hebrew  Lexicon,"  ad  voc.  fTl!"! 

}  See  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.    i.,  pp.  155,  187,  note  30. 

§  Ibid.,  vol.   Hi.,  p.   7. 


20  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  pardon  extended  by  Esar-haddon  to  Manasseh,  little 
consonant  as  it  is  with  general  Oriental  practice,  agrees  well 
with  the  character  of  this  particular  monarch,  whose  rule 
was  remarkably  mild,  and  who  is  proved  by  his  inscriptions 
to  have  been  equally  merciful  on  other  occasions.  When  a 
son  of  Merodach-Baladan,  who  had  been  in  revolt  against  his 
authority,  quitted  his  refuge  in  Susiana,  and  presented  him- 
self before  Esar-haddon's  footstool  at  Nineveh,  that  mon- 
arch received  him  favorably,  accepted  his  homage,  and  ap- 
pointed him  to  the  government  of  a  large  tract  upon  the 
Persian  Gulf,  previously  ruled  by  his  father,  and  afterwards 
by  his  elder  brother.*  Again,  when  the  chief  of  the  Gam- 
balu,  an  Aramasan  tribe  upon  the  Euphrates,  after  revolt, 
submitted  himself,  and  brought  the  arrears  of  his  tribute, 
together  with  a  present  of  buffaloes,  Esar-haddon  states  that 
he  forgave  him,  strengthened  his  city  with  fresh  works,  and 
continued  him  in  the  government  of  it.f 

"  Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign, 
and  he  reigned  eleven  years  in  Jerusalem ;  and  he  did  that  which  was 
evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  his  God.  Against  him  came  up  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, king  of  Babylon,  and  bound  him  in  fetters,  to  carry  him 
to  Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar  also  carried  of  the  vessels  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord  to  Babylon,  and  put  them  iu  his  temple  at  Babylon." — 2 
CHROX.  xxxvi.  5-7. 

With  this  notice  may  be  compared  the  following,  which 
relates  to  the  same  series  of  occurrences : — 

"  In  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  king  of  Judah,  came 
Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon  unto  Jerusalem,  and  besieged  it. 
And  the  Lord  gave  Jehoiakim,  king  of  Judah,  into  his  hand, with  part 
of  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  God;  which  he  carried  into  the  land  of 
Shinar  to  the  house  of  his  god;  and  he  brought  the  vessels  into  the 
treasure  house  of  his  god." — DAX.  i.  1,  2. 

In  these  passages  we  have  brought  before  us,  1.  The  in- 
dependence of  Babylon,  which, when  last  mentioned  (2  Chron- 
xxxiii.  11),  was  subject  to  the  king  of  Assyria  ;  2.  Its  govern- 
ment by  a  prince  named  "  Nebuchadnezzar,"  or,  as  Ezckiel 
transliterates  the  word  from  the  Babylonian,  "  Nebuchad- 
re/./.ar"  (Ezek.  xxvi.  7)  ;  3.  The  fact  that  this  prince  nimlr  a 

freat  expedition  into  Palestine  in  the  third  year  of  Jrlioi;i- 
im,  king  of  Judah,  besieged  Jerusalem,  and  took  it,  and 
made  Jehoiakim  a  prisoner ;  4.  The  further  fact,  that  he 


* 


"  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol  i.,  p.  409.  t  Ibid.,  p.  471. 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CUEONICLES.  21 

carried  off  from  the  Jewish  temple  a  certain  portion  of  the 
holy  vessels,  conveyed  them  to  Babylon,  and  placed  them 
there  "  in  the  house  of  his  god." 

With  respect  to  the  first  point,  profane  history  tells  us 
by  the  mouth  of  a  large  number  of  writers,*  that  toVard  the 
dosr  of  the  seventh  century  B.C.  the  Assyrian  empire  came 
to  an  end,  Nineveh  was  destroyed,  and  Babylon  stepped  into 
a  position  of  greatly  augmented  power  and  authority.  The 
i-xact  date  of  the  change  is  undetermined  ;  but  it  was  cer- 
tainly not  earlier  than  B.  c.  625,  and  not  later  than  B.  c.  606. 
The  third  year  of  Jehoiakim  seems  to  have  been  B.  c.  605. 
Thus  the  independence  of  Babylonia,  distinctly  implied  in 
the  above  passages,  was  beyond' all  doubt  a  fait  accompli  at 
the  time  mentioned. 

The  second  point — the  government  of  Babylonia  at  this 
exact  time  by  a  prince  named  Nebuchadnezzar  or  Nebuchad- 
rezzar— is  to  some  extent  a  difficulty.  The  name  indeed 
is  abundantly  confirmed.  Nine-tenths  of  the  baked  bricks 
found  in  Babylonia  bear  the  stamp  of  2fafai-fatdurri4&urt 
the  sou  of  Nabur-pal-uzur,  king  of  Babylon."  And  Berosus, 
Abydfiius,  and  Alexander  Polyhistor,  all  give  the  name  with 
little  variation.  But  Babylonian  chronology  made  Nebu- 
chadnezzar ascend  the  throne,  not  in  B.  c,  605,  biit  in  B.C. 
604  ;  and  Berosus  expressly  stated  that  the  first  expedition 
conducted  by  Nebuchadnezzar  into  Syria,  Palestine  and  the 
north-eastern  parts  of  Egypt,  fell  into  the  lifetime  of  his 
father,  Nabopolassar,  and  preceded  his  own  establishment 
on  the  Babylonian  throne. f  The  difficulty  is  sometimes  met 
l>y  the  supposition  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  associated  in 
the  kingdom  by  his  father  before  setting  out  upon  his  expe- 
dition (and  association  was  certainly  a  practice  not  unknown 
to  the  Babylonians)  ;  but  the  more  probable  explanation  is, 
that  the  sacred  writers  call  Nebuchadnezzar  "  king  of  Baby- 
lon," on  first  making  mention  of  him,  because  he  became 
-ueh  :  just  as  we  ourselves  might  say,  "  King  George  the 
fourth  received  the  allied  sovereigns  on  their  visit  to  Eng- 
and  after  Waterloo;"  or,  "  The  Emperor  Louis  Napoleon 
s  long  a  prisoner  in  the  fortress  of  Ham;"  although 
'or;ro  the  Fourth  received  the  sovereigns  as  prince  regent, 
'l  Louis  Napoleon  was  not  emperor  till  many  years  after 

•As  Herodotus  (i.  106,  178),  Polyhistor,  Abydcnus,  the  writer  of 
;he  Book  of  Tobit  (xiv.  13),  and  others, 
t  Berosus,  Fr.  14. 


22  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

his  imprisonment  was  over.*  Or,  it  may  have  been  assumed 
by  the  Jews  that  the  leader  of  the  great  expedition  was  the 
king  of  the  people  whom  he  led  against  them,  and  the  sacred 
writers  may  have  received  no  directions  to  correct  the  popu- 
lar misapprehension. 

The  expedition  itself,  and  its  synchronism  with  Jehoia- 
kim's  third  year,  is  generally  allowed.  Berosus  related,  that 
in  the  last  year  of  Nabopolassar's  reign,  which  by  the  Canon 
of  Ptolemy  was  B.  c.  605,  he  sent  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar 
to  crush  a  revolt  of  the  western  provinces.  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  successful,  conquered  Syria  and  Phoenicia,  and  had  in- 
vaded Egypt,  when  news  of  his  father's  death  reached  him, 
and  forced  him  to  return  to  his  own  capital. 

The  fourth  point — one  of  comparative  detail — receives 
very  curious  illustration  from  the  Babylonian  monuments. 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  said  to  have  placed  the  holy  vessels  which 
he  carried  off  from  Jerusalem  in  his  temple  at  Babylon," 
"  the  house  of  his  god"  and  to  have  brought  them  into  the 
treasure  house  of  his  f/od"  These  expressions  are  at  first 
Bight  surprising,  considering  that  the  Babylonian  religion 
was  polytheistic,  that  Babylon  had  many  temples,  and  that 
the  kings,  as  a  general  rule,  distributed  their  favors  impar- 
tially among  the  various  personages  of  the  pantheon.  It  is, 
however,  an  undoubted  fact  that  Nebuchadnezzar  formed  an 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  He  was  a  devotee  of  Merodach. 
He  calls  Merodach  "  his  lord,"  "  his  gracious  lord,"  "  his 
maker,"  "  the  god  who  deposited  his  germs  in  his  mother's 
womb,"  "  the  god  who  created  him,  and  assigned  him  the  em- 
pire over  multitudes  of  men."  One  of  the  foremost  of  his  own 
titles  is  "  Worshiper  of  Merodach."  He  regards»*Mcrodach  as 
"  the  great  lord,"  "  the  lord  of  lords,"  "  the  chief  of  the  gods," 
"  the  king  of  heaven  and  earth,"  "  the  god  of  gods."  Even 
on  the  cylinders  which  record  his  dedication  of  temples  to 
other  deities  it  is  Merodach  whom  he  principally  glorifies.* 
Sir  II.  Rawlinson  says  :  "  The  inscriptions  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar arc  for  the  most  part  occupied  with  the  praises  of 
Merodach,  and  with  prayers  for  the  continuance  of  his  favor. 
The  king  ascribes  to  him  his  elevation  to  the  throne  :  'Mero- 
dach, the  great  lord,  has  appointed  me  to  the  empire  of  the 
world,  and  lias  confided  to  my  care  the  far-spread  people  of 
thi  earth ; '  *  Merodach,  the  great  lord,  the  senior  of  the 

*  See  Dr.  Puscy's  "  Daniel,"  p.  400. 

t  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.?  pp.  71-78. 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  23 

gods,  the  most  ancient,  has  given  all  nations  and  people  to 
my  care,'  etc.  The  prayer  also  to  Merodach,  with  which  the 
inscriptions  of  Nebuchadnezzar  always  terminate,  invokes 
the  favor  of  the  god  for  the  protection  of  the  king's  throne 
and  empire,  and  for  its  continuance  through  all  ages  to  the 
end  of  time."  * 

The  temple  of  Merodach  at  Babylon  is  properly  called 
'•  Nebuchadnezzar's  temple,"  because  he  completely  rebuilt 
and  restored  it.  It  was  the  great  temple  of  Babylon,  and 
known  to  the  Greeks  as  the  "temple  (or  tower)  of  Belus." 
To  its  ruins  the  name  of  "  Babil  "  still  attaches.  Ncbuchad- 
nez/ar  describes  his  restoration  of  it  at  great  length  in  his 
"  Standard  Inscription ;  "  f  and  his  statement  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  all  the  inscribed  bricks  which  have  ever 
been  found  in  it  bear  his  name.  Special  mention  of  the 
"  treasure-house  "  attached  to  the  temple  has  not  been  found 
in  the  Babylonian  remains  ;  but  it  was  probably  the  building 
at  the  base  of  the  great  tower,  which  is  described  by  Hero- 
dotus as  a  "  second  temple,"  and  said  to  have  contained 
furniture  and  figures  in  solid  gold,  together  with  many  other 
offerings.^ 

*  Rawlinson,  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.,  p.  652  (3d  edition). 
t  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  pp.  116-120. 
I  Herod.,  i.,  183. 


24  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  THE  BOOKS  OF  KINGS  AND 
CHRONICLES. 

THE  numerous  expeditions  of  the  Babylonians  against 
Jerusalem,  subsequently  to  the  first  attack  in  B.  c.  605,  re- 
ceive no  direct  confirmation  from  the  cuneiform  monuments, 
probably  owing  to  the  fact  that  no  general  historical  inscrip- 
tion descriptive  of  the  events  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  reign  has 
been  as  yet  discovered.  The  records  of  his  time  which 
modern  research  has  unearthed,  consist  almost  entirely  cither 
of  invocations  addressed  to  the  gods,  or  of  descriptions  and 
measurements  connected  with  his  great  works.*  Alexander 
Polyhistor,  however,  noticed  an  expedition  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's into  these  parts,  which  appears  to  have  been  that 
conducted  in  the  year  B.  c.  597,  against  Jehoiakim,  whereof 
we  have  the  following  notice  in  the  Second  Book  of 
Kings : — 

"The  Lord  sent  against  him"  (l.e.  Jehoiakim)  "bands  of  the 
Chaldecs,  and  bands  of  the  Syrians,  and  bands  of  the  Moabites,  and 
bands  of  the  children  of  Ainmon,  and  sent  them  against  Jnduh  to 
destroy  it,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  lie  spake  by  His 
servants  the  prophets." — 2.  KIXGS  xxiv.  2. 

Polyhistor  tells  us  f  that  the  expedition  was  one  in  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  called  in  the  aid  of  his  allies,  among  others, 
of  the  Median  king  called  by  him  Astibaras,  who  seems  t<» 
represent  Cyaxares.  The  number  of  troops  employed  was 
unusually  great,  amounting,  according  to  the  same  authority, 
to  ten  thousand  chariots,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 

*  Until  the  year  1878,  no  historical  inscription  of  Nelmchadin-/- 
zai's  had  come  to  light.  In  that  year  a  small  and  mutilated  cylinder, 
giving  an  account  of  some  events  belonging  to  his  thirty-seventh  yar, 
wan  purchased  by  the  British  Museum.  Further  reference  will  be 
made  to  this  cylinder  in  a  future  chapter. 

t  Fragm.  Hist.  Gr.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  229,  Fr.  24. 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  25 

horsemen,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  infantry. 
These  numbers  imply  an  army  gathered  from  many  nations, 
ami  account  for  the  expressions,  "  bands  of  the  Chaldees, 
and  bands  of  the  Syrians,  and  bands  of  the  Moabites,  and 
bands  of  the  children  of  Ammon,"  in  the  passage  of  Kings, 
as  well  as  for  the  followin  in  Ezekiel  :  — 


"  Then  the  nations  set  against  him  on  every  side  from  the  prov- 
inces, and  spread  their  net  over  him:  he  was  taken  in  their  pit."  — 
EZKK.  xix.  8. 

The  context  of  this  passage  shows  that  the  monarch  in- 
tended  is  Jehoiakim. 

On  passing  from  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim  to  that  of 
Jchoiachin,  the  author  of  Kings  makes  the  following  re- 
mark :  — 

"And  the  King  of  Egypt  came  not  again  anymore  out  of  his 
land,  for  the  king  of  Babylon  had  taken  from  the  river  of  Egypt  unto 
the  river  Euphrates  all  that  pertained  to  the  king  of  Egypt."  —  2 
Ki.\<;*,  xxiv.  7. 

This  remark,  though  interposed  at  this  point,  belongs, 
so  far  as  it  bears  on  Babylon,  to  an  anterior  time.  The 
king  of  Egypt,  the  writer  intends  to  say,  did  not  at  this 
time  lend  any  help  to  Jehoiakim  against  Nebuchadnezzar, 
did  not  even  set  foot  beyond  his  borders,  because  some  years 
previously  the  Egyptians  had  been  worsted  in  an  encounter 
with  the  Babylonians,  and  had  lost  to  them  the  wrhole  of 
their  Asiatic  dominions  —  -the  entire  tract  between  the  tor- 
rent (nakJtal)  of  Egypt,  or  the  Wady  el  Arish,  and  the 
Euphrates.  The  event  glanced  at  is  among  the  most  im- 
portant in  the  history  of  the  East.  When  Necho,  king  of 
(Egypt,  in  B.  c.  608,  carried  the  Egyptian  arms  triumphantly 
from  the  Nile  valley  to  the  Upper  Euphrates,  it  seemed  as 
if  the  old  glories  of  the  Thothmeses  and  Amenhoteps  were 
about  to  be  renewed,  as  if  Egypt  was  about  to  become  once 
more  the  dominant  power  in  western  Asia,  and  to  throw  the 
hordes  of  Asiatic  invaders  back  upon  their  own  continent. 
A  permanent  advance  of  Egypt,  and  retrocession  of  Babylon, 
at  this  time  would  greatly  have  complicated  the  politi- 
cal problem,  and  might  seriously  have  checked  that  aggres- 
sive spirit  which  was  already  moving  Asia  to  attempt  the 
conquest  of  Europe.  When  Nabopolassar,  therefore,  in  the 
last  year  of  his  reign,  sent  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar  to 


26  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

challenge  Necho  to  a  trial  of  strength,  and  the  hosts  of 
Africa  and  Asia  met  in  battle  array  at  the  great  frontier 
fortress  of  Carcheraish  (Jer.  xlvi.  2.)  the  issue  raised  was  of 
no  small  importance,  being  nothing  less  than  the  question 
whether  African  power  and  influence  should  not  maintain 
itself  in  Syria  and  the  adjoining  regions,  should  or  should 
not  establish  its  superiority  over  the  power  of  Asia,  should 
or  should  not  step  into  a  position  which  would  have  brought 
it  shortly  into  direct  contact  with  the  civilization  of  the 
Greeks.  The  battle  of  Carchemish,  as  it  is  called,  decided 
these  questions.  The  armies  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Pharaoh- 
Necho  met  in  the  vicinity  of  Carchemish  (now  Jerablus),  in 
the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  king  of  Judah,  which  was  the 
accession  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  contended  in  a  great 
battle,  wherein  ultimately  the  Babylonians  wei-e  victorious. 
The  battle  is  prophetically,  but  very  graphically,  described 
by  the  prophet  Jeremiah  : — 

"  Order  ye  the  buckler  and  shield,  and  draw  near  to  battle,"  he 
says;  ''harness  the  horses,  and  get  up,  ye  horsemen"  (or  rather, 
"  mount,  ye  chariotmen  "),  "  and  stand  forth  with  your  helmets;  fur- 
bish the  spears;  put  on  the  brigandines.  Wherefore  have  I  seeu 
them  dismayed  and  turned  away  back  ?'  Their  mighty  men  are  beaten 
down,  and  are  lied  apace,  and  Jook  not  back ;  for  fear  was  round  about, 
saith  the  Lord.  Let  not  the  swift  flee  away,  nor  the  mighty  man 
escape,  they  shall  stumble  and  fall  toward  the  north  by  the  river 
Euphrates.  "Who  is  this  that  cometh  up  as  a  flood,  whose  waters  toss 
to  and  fro  as  the  rivers  ?  Egypt  riseth  up  like  a  flood,  and  his  waters 
are  tossed  to  and  fro  like  the  rivers;  and  he  saith,  I  will  go  up,  and  will 
cover  the  earth  ;  I  will  destroy  the  city  and  the  inhabitants  thereof. 
Come  up,  ye  horses;  and  rage  ye  chariots  ;  and  let  the  mighty 
men  come  forth,  Ctish  and  Phut  that  handle  the  shield,  and 
Lud  that  handle  and  bend  the  bow.  For  this  is  the  day  of  the 
Lord  God  of  hosts,  a  day  of  vengeance,  that  lie  may  avenge 
Him  of  His  adversaries ;  and  the  sword  shall  devour,  and  it 
shall  be  satiate  and  made  drunk  with  their  blood;  for  the  Lord 
God  of  hosts  hath  a  sacrifice  in  the  north  country  by  the  river 
Euphrates.  Go  up  into  Gilead,  and  take  balm,  O  virgin,  the  daughter 
of  Kgypt:  in  vain  shalt  thou  use  many  medicines;  for  thou  shall  not 
be  cured.  The  nations  have  heard  of  thy  shame,  and  thy  cry  hath 
filled  the  land  :  for  the  mighty  man  hath  stumbled  against  the 
mighty,  and  they  are  fallen  both,  together. "— JEK.  xlvi.  3-12. 

A  fierce  struggle  is  here  indicated,  a  hardly  contested 
battle,  terminating  in  a  complete  defeat.  Egypt  is  not  sur- 
prised— not  taken  at  disadvantage.  She  has  ample  time  to 
call  together  her  armed  force  of  natives  and  auxiliaries, 
Cush  and  Phut  and  Lud.  Her  chariots  are  marshaled  in 
their  gallant  array,  together  with  her  horsemen:  she  "rise* 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  27 

op  like  a  flood,"  bent  on  conquest  rather  than  on  mere 
resistance.  But  all  is  in  vain.  "  It  is  the  day  of  the  Lord 
God  of  hosts,  a  day  of  vengeance."  By  the  river  Euphrates 
the  mighty  men  stumble  and  fall — they  are  dismayed  and 
beaten  down  ;  in  a  short  time  they  are  compelled  to  fly — 
they  "  flee  apace,  and  look  not  back."  The  mighty  man 
hath  met  a  mightier ;  the  forces  of  Asia  have  proved  too 
strong  for  those  of  Africa  ;  the  Nile  flood  is  swept  back  on 
its  own  land. 

Profane  history,  while  touching  the  struggle  itself  only 
in  a  single  sentence,*  amply  signalizes  the  result.  With 
the  battle  of  Carchemish,  Babylon,  for  long  ages  oppressed 
and  held  in  subjection,  springs  up  to  notice  as  an  empire. 
Syria,  Phoenicia,  Palestine,  hitherto  threatened  alternately 
by  Egypt  and  Assyria,  now  find  a  new  foe  in  the  great  city 
on  the  lower  Euphrates,  and  become  fiefs  of  the  Babylonian 
crown.  Egypt's  attempt  to  recover,  under  the  Psamatiks, 
the  Asiatic  dominion  which  had  been  hers  under  the  Thoth- 
meses  and  Amenhoteps,  is  rudely  checked.  Her  own  terri- 
tory is  invaded,  and  she  becomes  for  a  time  a  "  base  king- 
dom," the  subject-ally  and  tributary  of  another.  Babylon  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  "great  powers"  of  Asia,  sends  her 
armies  within  the  Cilician  gates,  wastes  Tyre,  destroys  Jeru- 
salem, makes  alliances  with  Media  and  Lydia.  The  general 
position  of  affairs  in  Western  Asia  for  the  next  sixty  years 
was  determined  by  the  events  of  that  campaign,  wherein 
"  the  king  of  Babylon  took  from  the  river  of  Egypt  unto  the 
river  Euphrates  all  that  pertained  unto  the  king  of  Egypt." 

"  They  burnt  the  house  of  God,  and  brake  down  the  wall  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  burnt  all  the  palaces  thereof  with  lire,  and  destroyed  all 
the  goodly  vessels  thereof :  and  them  that  had  escaped  from  the 
sword  carried  he  away  to  Babylon,  where  they  were  servants  to  him 
and  his  sons,  until  the  reign  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia." — 2  CIIKOX. 
xxxvi.  19,  20. 

The  complete  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and.  transfer  of 
its  inhabitants  from  Palestine  to  Babylonia,  momentous 
events  as  they  were  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and 
in  that  discipline  of  severity  which  was  to  purge  out  its 
dross  from  the  people  of  God,  and  fit  them  to  hold  up  the 
torch  of  truth  to  the  nations  for  another  half  millennium, 
did  not  greatly  attract  the  attention  of  the  world  at  large, 
or  even  obtain  record  generally  at  the  hands  of  the  historio- 
graphers who  were  engaged  in  chronicling  the  events  of  the 
*  Beros.  ap.  Joseph.,  Contr.  Ap.  \.  19,  §  2. 


28  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

time.  In  Babylon,  indeed,  it  must  have  been  otherwise. 
There,  if  nowhere  else,  the  final  capture  and  ruin  of  so  great, 
so  renowned,  so  ancient  a  city,  after  a  siege  which  lasted 
eighteen  months,  must  beyond  a  doubt  have  been  entered 
upon  the  records,  with  the  view  of  its  being  handed  down 
to  posterity.  But,  unfortunately,  it  happens  that  at  present, 
as  already  observed,  Nebuchadnezzar's  historical  inscriptions 
remain  undiscovered ;  and  consequently  we  are  still  deprived 
of  such  light  as  a  Babylonian  account  of  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  would  naturally  have  thrown  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject. The  fragments  of  Berosus  might  have  been  expected 
to  supply  the  deficiency ;  but,  at  the  best,  they  are  scanty, 
and  for  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar  they  furnish  nothing 
but  a  bare  outline.  They  do  just  state  that  Nebuchadnezzar 
made  an  expedition  into  Palestine  and  Egypt,  carried  all 
before  him,  and,  after  burning  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  bore 
away  into  captivity  the  whole  Jewish  people,  and  settled 
them  in  different  places  in  Babylonia;  but  they  give  no 
further  particulars.  Not  even  is  the  name  of  the  Jewish 
king  mentioned,  nor  that  of  the  general  to  whom  Nebuchad- 
nezzar entrusted  the  execution  of  his  orders  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city. 

Direct  illustration  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
captivity  of  the  Jewish  people,  is  therefore  at  present  im- 
possible. Still  history  may  be  said  to  illustrate  indirectly 
this  portion  of  the  sacred  records  by  the  examples  which  it 
sets  forth  of  parallel  instances.  The  complete  destruction 
of  a  great  city  by  the  powers  which  conquer  it  is  a  rare 
event,  requiring  as  it  docs  a  dogged  determination  on  the 
part  of  the  conqueror,  and  a  postponement  of  immediate 
gain  to  prospective  advantage.  But  the  complete  destruction 
of  Nineveh,  which  is  abundantly  attested,  had  taken  place 
not  very  long  before,  and  must  have  been  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  men  at  the  time,  furnishing  a  precedent  for  such  extreme 
severity,  while  a  sufficient  motive  may  be  discerned  in  the 
important  position  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  persistency  of  the 
rebellious  spirit  in  its  inhabitants. 

Transplantations  of  conquered  nations  arc  unknown  in 
modern  warfare,  and  scarcely  belong  to  the  history  of  the 
West.  But  in  the  East  they  wore  common  anciently,  and 
are  still  not  wholly  unknown.  The  Kurds,  who  protect  the 
north-eastern  frontier  of  Persia  against  the  raids  of  the  Turk- 
omans, were  transported  thither  by  Nadir  Shall,  after  a 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CXKONICLES.  29 

revolt  in  Kurdistan,  being  thus  transferred  from  the  extreme 
west  almost  to  the  extreme  east  of  his  empire.  Sargon 
transported  the  Samaritans  to  Gozan  and  Media ;  Senna- 
cherib carried  off  200,000  Jews  from  Judsea;  Esarhaddon 
placed  Elamites,  Susianians  and  Babylonians  in  Samaria. 
Darius  Hystaspis  brought  the  nation  of  the  Pa^onians  from 
Europe  into  Asia  Minor,*  removed  the  BarcaBans  to  Bactria  f 
and  the  Eretrians  to  Ardericca,  near  Susa.t  The  forcible 
removal  of  large  populations  from  their  native  countries  to 
a  remote  region  was  a  portion  of  the  system  under  which 
great  empires  were  administered  in  the  oriental  world  from 
the  time  of  Sargon  downwards,  and  was  regarded  as  especially 
suited  for  the  case  where  a  race  distinguished  itself  by  per- 
sistence in  revolt. 

"  It  came  to  pass  in  the  seven  and  thirtieth  year  of  the  captivity  of 
Jehoiachin,  king  of  Judab,  in  the  twelfth  month,  on  the  seventh  and 
twentieth  day  of  the  month,  that  Evil-AIerodach,  king  of  Babylon,  in 
the  year  that  he  began  to  reiyn,  did  lift  up  the  head  of  Jehoiachin, 
king  of  Judah,  out  of  prison;  and  he  spake  kindly  to  him,  and  set  his 
throne  above  the  thrones  of  the  kings  that  were  with  him  in  Babylon ; 
and  changed  his  prison  garments  :  and  he  did  eat  bread  continually 
before  him  all  the  days  of  his  life." — 2  KINGS  xxv.  27-29. 

Evil-Merodach  was  mentioned  as  the  son  and  successor 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  by  Berosus  and  Abydcnus.  His  name 
has  also  been  found  on  no  fewer  than  eleven  Babylonian 
contract  tablets,  and  is  transliterated  by  the  best  authorities, 
"  Avil-Marduk."  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  position  of 
this  king  in  the  Babylonian  list  between  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  Neriglissar,  or  Nergal-sar-uzur.  Jehoiachin  was  carried 
captive  to  Babylon  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  eighth  year  of 
his  reign  (2  Kings  xxiv.  12),  and  Nebuchadnezzar  reigned 
forty-three  years,  according  to  Berosus,  Ptolemy,  and  the 
tablets — commencing  his  reign  in  ir.  c.  605,  and  ending  it  in 
B.  c.  562 — the  "  seven  and  thirtieth  year  of  the  captivity  of 
Jehoiachin"  would  exactly  coincide  with  the  first  regnal  year 
of  Evil-Mcrodach,  which  was  B.C.  561. 

The  mild  treatment  of  a  rebel,  whom  Nebuchadnezzar 
had  kept  in  durance  for  so  many  years,  was  perhaps  regarded 
by  the  Babylonians  as  a  wrongful  departure  from  their  cus- 
toms. At  any  rate,  we  learn  from  Berosus  that  within  two 
years  of  his  accession  Evil-Merodach  was  put  to  death  by 

*  Herod.,  v.  17.  t  Ibid.,  iv.  204.  J  Ibid.,  vi.  118. 


30  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

his  subjects,  on  the  charge  of  ruling  in  a  lawless  and  intem- 
perate fashion.  As  Jchoi.ichin  "  did  eat  bread  continually 
before  Evil-Merodach  all  the  days  of  his  (*.  e.  Jehoiachin's) 
life,"  we  must  suppose  that  he  died  within  less  than  two 
years  from  his  release.  He  would  have  been  at  the  time 
between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age. 

"  Those  that  had  escaped  from  the  sword  carried  ho  "  (i.e.  Nebu- 
chadnezzar) "'  away  to  Babylon,  where  they  were  servants  to  him  and 
Ms  sons  until  the  reign  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia;  to  fulfil  the  word, 
of  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah,  until  the  land  had  enjoyed 
her  sabbaths;  for  as  long  as  she  lay  desolate  she  kept  sabbath,  to 
fulfil  threescore  and  ten  years." — 2  CIIBOX.  xxxvi.  20,  21. 

The  statement  that  the  Israelites,  "  were  servants  to 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  sons"  is  at  first  sight  contradictory" 
to  the  Babylonian  history,  as  delivered  to  us  by  profane 
authors.  According  to  them,  Nebuchadnezzar  was  succeeded 
by  one  son  only,  viz.,  Evil-Merodach,  after  whom  the  crown 
fell  to  a  certain  Neriglissar,  or  Ncrgal-sar-uzur,  who  was 
not  a  blood  relation.  Neriglissar,  however,  had  married  a 
daughter  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  having  thus  become  a  son- 
in-law,  may  conceivably  be  termed  a  "  son."  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  own  son,  Laborosoarchod,  probably  a  grandson 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  would  come  under  the  term  "  son  " 
by  the  ordinary  Hebrew  usage.  The  successor  of  Laboroso- 
archod was,  we  are  told,  "  in  no  way  related  "  to  the  family 
of  Nebuchadnezzar.  There  are  some  reasons,  however,  for 
believing  that  he,  too,  married  a  daughter  of  the  great  mon- 
arch ;  so  that  he,  too,  may  have  been  regarded  as  "  a  son  " 
in  the  same  sense  with  Neriglissar. 

The  seventy  years  of  the  captivity,  during  which  the 
land  lay  waste,  and  "  enjoyed  its  sabbaths,"  may  be  counted 
from  different  dates.  In  this  place  the  year  of  the  final 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  seems  to  be  taken  as  the  terminus 
a  quo.  This  was  n.  c.  580,  the  nineteenth  year  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar (2  Kings  xxv.  8-8;  Jer.  lii.  0-12),  and  the  passage 
would  therefore  seem  to  point  to  B.  c.  510  as  the  termina- 
tion of  the  captivity  period.  Now  n.  c.  510,  the  sixth  of 
Darius  Hystaspis,  was,  in  fact,  the  close  of  the  period  of  de- 
pression and  desolation,  so  far  as  the  temple  was  concerned 
(Ezra  vi.  15).  But  the  personal  captivity,  the  desolation 
of  the  land  through  loss  of  inhabitants,  both  began  and 
ended  earlier.  Jeremiah  evidently  intended  his  "  seventy 
years"  to  count  from  the  first  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebu- 


NOTICES  IN  KINGS  AND  CHRONICLES.  31 

chadnezzar  (Jcr.  xxv.  1-12),  which  was  in  B.  c.  605 ;  and 
Daniel  must  have  counted  from  the  same  date  when  he  felt, 
in  B.  c.  538,  that  the  time  of  release  was  approaching  (Dan. 
ix.  2).  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  the  full  term  of 
the  prophetic  announcement,  thus  understood,  was  actually 
reached.  If  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  away  his  first  captives 
from  Jerusalem  in  B.  c.  605,  and  Cyrus  issued  his  edict  for 
the  return  in  his  first  year  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  22  ;  Ezra,  i.  i), 
which  was  B.  c.  538,  the  seventieth  year  had  certainly  not 
then  commenced.  Even  if  the  captives  did  not  take  im- 
mediate advantage  of  the  edict,  but  made  the  journey  from 
Babylonia  to  Palestine  in  the  year  following  the  proclama- 
tion, B.  c.  537,  which  is  not  improbable,  still  the  captivity 
had  not  endured  seventy  years,  but  only  sixty-eight.  It  is 
usual  to  meet  the  difficulty  by  the  supposition  that  the  first 
year  of  Cyrus  in  Scripture  is  really  the  third  year  from  his 
conquest  of  Babylon,  Darius  the  Mede  having  been  made 
viceroy  of  Babylon  under  Cyrus  during  the  first  two  years 
after  the  conquest.  This  is,  no  doubt,  a  possible  explana- 
tion. But  it  is  perhaps  as  probable  that  the  round  number 
"  seventy,"  in  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah,  was  not  intended 
to  be  exact,  but  approximate,  and  that  the  actual  duration 
of  the  captivity  fell  short  by  a  year  or  two  of  the  threatened 
period. 

That  "  the  reign  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  "  immediately 
succeeded  to  that  of  Babylon,  which  was  swallowed  ui>  by 
the  great  Aryan  power  within  seventy  years  of  the  acces- 
sion of  Nebuchadnezzar,  is  declared  with  one  voice  by  the 
classical  historians,  and  has  been  recently  confirmed  by  more 
than  one  native  document.  Two  inscriptions,  brought  from 
Babylonia  within  the  last  decade,  describe  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  great  empire  of  Babylon  collapsed  before 
the  arms  of  Cyrus  the  Great,  and  was  absorbed  into  his 
dominions.  The  details  of  the  subjection  will  have  to  be 
considered  hereafter,  when  we  comment  on  those  passages  of 
Scripture  which  treat  directly  of  the  fall  of  the  city.  At 
present  we  desire  simply  to  note  the  confirmation  by  the 
monuments  of  the  Persian  conquest,  effected  by  Cyrus  the 
Great,  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  Xabonidus,  which  was  the 
sixty-eighth  year  after  the  accession  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
his  first  capture  of  Jerusalem.  * 

*  SCR  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,  ToL 
Vi.,  pp.  47-01. 


82  £GYFT  AJD  SABTLOJK. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NOTICES    OF   BABYLON   IN   DANIEL. 

THE  history  of  the  chosen  people  during  the  period  of 
the  Babylonian  captivity  is  carried  on  in  a  book  which  we 
are  accustomed  to  regard  as  prophetical,  but  in  which  the 
historical  element  decidedly  preponderates.  The  first  six 
chapters  of  Daniel  contain  a  continuous  and  most  important 
narrative.  The  scene  of  the  history  has  been  transferred  from 
Jerusalem  to  Babylon.  We  are  introduced  into  the  court 
of  the  great  King  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  shown  his  grandeur, 
his  pride,  his  cruelty,  his  relentings,  his  self-glorification,  his 
punishment.  We  find  the  Jews  his  captives,  scattered  in 
various  parts  of  his  territories  (ch.  ix.  7),  without  organiza- 
tion or  national  life,  a  mere  herd  of  slaves,  down-trodden 
and  oppressed  for  the  most  part.  At  the  court,  however, 
it  is  different.  There  four  Jews,  of  royal,  or  at  any  rate  noble 
blood,  occupy  a  position  of  some  importance,  take  rank  among 
the  courtiers,  hold  communication  with  the  monarch,  and 
are  called  upon  to  advise  him  in  circumstances  of  difficulty 
(ch.  i.  17-20).  After  a  time  they  rise  still  higher  in  the 
king's  favor,  and  are  promoted  to  some  of  the  chief  govern- 
mental offices  in  the  hingdom  (ch.  ii.  48,  49).  One,  the 
writer  of  great  part  of  the  book,  if  not  even  of  the  whole, 
becomes  the  very  first  person  in  the  kingdom  next  to  the 
king,  and  lives  and  prospers  under  four  monarchs,  called 
res ]i< •ctively,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Belshazzar,  Cyrus,  and  Darius 
We  have  thus  a  considerable  body  of  Babylonian  history  in 
this  (so-called)  prophetical  book ;  and  numerous  points  pre- 
sent themselves  on  which  some  illustration  of  the  history 
from  profane  sources  is  possible. 

Let  us  take,  first,  the  character  of  Nebuchadnez/iu-'s 
court.  It  is  vast  and  complicated,  elaborate  in  its  organiza- 
tion, careful  in  its  etiquette,  magnificent  in  its  ceremonial. 
Among  the  most  important  personages  in  it  are  a  class  who 
profess  to  have  the  power  of  expounding  dreams,  and  gene*- 
rally  foretelling  future  events  by  means  of  magic  sorcery,  and 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  33 

astrology  (ch.  ii.  2, 10,  27,  etc.).  Next  to  these  are  the  civil  ad- 
ministrators, "  princes,  governors,  captains,  judges,  treasurers, 
councilors,  sheriffs,  and  rulers  of  provinces"  (ch.iii. 2),  who 
are  specially  summoned  to  attend  in  full  numbers  on  certain 
grand  occasions,  The  king  is  waited  on  by  eunuchs,  some- 
times of  royal  descent,  who  are  subjected  to  a  three  years' 
CM  refill  training,  and  are  under  the  superintendence  of  a 
"  master  of  the  eunuchs,"  who  is  an  officer  of  high  position 
(ch.  i.  3—5).  The  monai'ch  has,  of  course,  a  "body-guard," 
which  is  under  the  command  of  a  "captain"  (ch.  ii.  14), 
another  high  official.  Music  is  used  at  the  court  in  ceremo- 
nials, and  is  apparently  of  an  advanced  kind,  the  bands  com- 
prising performers  on  at  least  six  different  musical  instru- 
ments (ch.  iii.  5,  7,  10,  etc.). 

The  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  remains  amply  illustrate 
most  of  these  particulars.  Magic  holds  a  most  important 
place  in  both  nations,  and  the  monarchs  set  a  special  value 
on  it.  Their  libraries  contained  hundreds  of  tablets,  copied 
with  the  utmost  care,  on  which  were  recorded  the  exorcisms, 
the  charms,  the  talismans  and  the  astronomical  prognostic*, 
which  had  come  down  from  a  remote  antiquity,  and  which 
tvere  implicitly  believed  in.  The  celestial  phenomena  were 
constantly  observed,  and  reports  sent  to  the  court  from  the 
observatories,  which  formed  the  groundwork  of  confident 
predictions.*  Eclipses  were  especially  noted,  and,  according 
to  the  month  and  day  of  their  occurrence,  were  regarded  as 
portending  events,  political,  social,  or  meteorological.!  We 
give  a  specimen  from  an  astronomical  calendar : — 

"  In  the  month  of  Elul  (August),  the  14th  day,  an  eclipse  happens; 
in  the  north  it  begins,  and  in  the  south  and  cast  it  ends ;  in  the  evening 
watch  it  begins,  and  in  the  night  watch  it  ends.  To  the  king  of  Mul- 
lias  a  crown  is  given.  .  .  .  There  are  rains  in  heaven,  and  in  the 
channels  of  the  rivers  floods.  A  famine  is  in  the  country,  and  men 
sell  their  sons  for  silver. 

"  An  eclipse  happens  on  the  15th  day.  The  king's  son  murders  his 
father,  and  seizes  on  the  throne.  The  enemy  plunders  and  devours 
tin-  land. 

"An  eclipse  happens  on  the  10th  day.  The  king  of  the  Ilittites 
plunders  the  land,  and  on  the  throne  seizes.  There  is  rain  in  heaven, 
and  a  flood  descends  in  the  channels  of  the  rivers. 

"  An  eclipse  happens  on  the  20th  day.  There  are  rains  in  heaven, 
and  Hoods  in  the  rivers.  Country  makes  peace  with  country,-  and 
keeps  festival. 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  150-157. 
t  Ibid.,  pp.  158-101. 


34  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

"  An  eclipse  happens  on  the  21st  day.  The  enemy's  throne  does 
not  endure.  A  self-appointed  king  rules  in  the  land.  After  a  year  th» 
Air  god  causes  an  inundation.  After  a  year  the  king  does  not 
remain.  His  country  is  made  small."  * 

The  application  of  the  ethnic  term  "  Chaldaean "  (Kns* 
dim)  to  the  learned  caste,  or  class,  which  occupied  itself  with 
the  subjects  of  magic  and  astrology,  so  frequent  in  Dnniel 
(ch.  ii.  2,  4,  5,  10  ;  v.  11),  is  found  also  in  profane  writers,  as 
Strabo,  Diodorus,  Cicero,  and  others,f  who  distinguish  be- 
tween Chalda3ans  and  Babylonians,  making  the  latter  term 
the  ethnic  appellative  of  the  nation  at  large,  while  they 
reserve  the  former  for  a  small  section  of  the  nation,  distin- 
guished by  the  possession  of  abstruse  and  recondite  learning. 
The  distinction  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  later 
period  of  the  empire,  and  to  have  been  grounded  on  an 
identification  of  the  Chaldeans  with  the  Akkad,  and  on  the 
fact  that  the  old  Akkadian  language  and  learning  was  in 
the  later  times  the  special  possession  of  a  literary  class,  who 
furnished  to  the  nation  its  priests,  astrologers,  magicians, 
a*d  men  of  science.  What  the  real  connection  was  between 
the  Chaldaeans  and  the  Akkad  is  still  uncertain ;  but  some 
ethnic  affinity  may  be  regarded  as  probable. 

The  division  of  the  learned  class  into  three  distinct  bodies, 
devoted  to  different  branches  of  the  mystic  lore  in  which  all 
participated,  receives  illustration  from  the  native  remains, 
where  the  literature  of  magic  comes  under  three  principal 
heads :  (1).  Written  charms  or  talismans,  which  were  to  be 
placed  on  the  bodies  of  sick  persons,  or  on  the  door-posts  of 
afflicted  houses ;  \  ('!).  Formula)  of  incantation,  which  had 
to  be  recited  by  the  learned  man  in  order  to  produce  their 
proper  effect;  §  and  (3).  Records  of  observations,  intended 
to  serve  as  grounds  for  the  prediction  of  particular  events, 
together  with  collections  of  prognostics  from  eclipses  or 
other  celestial  phenomena,  regarded  as  having  a  general  ap- 
|ilic:ibility.||  The  preparation  of  the  written  charms  or 
talismans  was  probably  the  special  task  of  the  "magicians," 
or  k/H'rtummim,  whose  name  is  formed  from  the  root  kheret^ 

•  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  p.  100. 

t  Diod.  Sic.  ii.  29;  Strab.  xvi.  1,  §  0;  Cic.  7>e  Z>i».  i.  1,  §  2;42,  §  93; 
riin.  II. N.  vi.  30,  §  128.  etc. 

J  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  142. 
§  Ibid.,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  147-1^2,  and  xi.,  128-138. 
II  Ibid.,  vol.  1.,  pp.  153-103. 


NOTICES  IN  DAtflElC.  35 

which  signifies  "  an  engraving  tool,"  or  "  stylus."  The  com- 
position and  recitation  of  the  formulae  of  incantation  belonged 
to  the  ashshaphim  or  mecashaphim,  the  "  astrologers  "  and 
"  sorcerers  "  of  our  version,  whose  names  are  derived  from 
the  root  ashaph,  or  eashaphj  which  means  "  to  mutter."  * 
The  taking  of  observations  and  framing  of  tables  of  prognos- 
tics is  probably  to  be  assigned  to  the  gazerim  or  "  dividers," 
in  our  version  "soothsayers"  who  divided  the  heavens  into 
constellations  or  "  houses  "  for  astronomical  and  astrological 
purposes.f 

The  attention  paid  to  dreams  (ch.  ii.  1^46  ;  iv.  5-27)  by 
the  Babylonian  monarch  is  quite  in  accordance  with  what 
we  know  of  the  state  of  opinion,  both  in  Babylonia  and 
Assyria,  about  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  Assyrians 
had  a  "  dream  deity,"  whom  thev  called  Makhir,  and  regarded 
as  "  the  daughter  of  the  Sun,"  and  to  whom  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  praying,  either  beforehand,  to  send  them  favor- 
able dreams,  or  after  they  had  dreamed,  to  "  confirm"  their 
dream,  or  make  it  turn  out  favorably  to  them.J  A  late 
Assyrian  monarch  records  that,  in  the  course  of  a  war  which 
he  carried  on  with  Elam  or  Susiana,  one  of  his  "  wise  men  " 
dreamed  a  remarkable  dream,  and  forthwith  communicated 
to  him  the  particulars.  "  Ishtar,"  he  said,  "  the  goddess  of 
war  had  appeared  to  him  in  the  dead  of  night,  begirt  with 
flames  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left ;  she  held  a  bow  in 
her  hand,  and  was  riding  in  a  chariot,  as  if  going  forth  to 
war.  Before  her  stood  the  king,  whom  she  addressed  as  a 
mother  would  her  child.  .  .  .  '  Take  this  bow,'  she  said,  '  and 
go  with  it  to  the  battle.  Wherever  thou  shalt  pitch  thy 
camp,  I  will  come  to  thee.'  Then  the  king  replied,  *  O 
queen  of  all  the  goddesses,  wherever  thou  goest,  let  me  ac- 
company thee.'  She  made  answer,  '  I  will  protect  thee, 
and  march  with  thee  at  the  time  of  the  feast  of  Nebo.  Mean- 
while, cat  meat,  drink  wine,  make  music,  and  glorify  my 
divinity,  until  I  come  to  thee  and  this  vision  shall  be  ful- 
filled.' "  Rendered  confident  by  this  dream,  the  Assyrian 
monarch  marched  forth  to  war,  attacked  the  Elamites  in 
their  own  country,  defeated  them,  and  received  their  sub- 
mission^ 

Not  very  long  after  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Nabo- 

•Furst,  "  Concordant,"  p.  133. 

t  "Ancient  Monarchies."  vol.  ii.,  p.  207. 

t  "  Records  of  tlie  Past,"  vol.  ix.,  p.  152.       §  Ibid.,v  ol.  vii.,  p.  08. 


36  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

nidus,  one  of  his  successors,  places  on  record  the  following 
incident :  "  In  the  beginning  of  my  long  reign,"  he  says, 
"  Merodach,  the  great  lord,  and  Sin,  the  illuminator  of  heaven 
and  earth,  the  strengthener  of  all,  showed  me  a  dream. 
Merodach  spake  thus  with  me  :  '  Nabonidus,  king  of  Baby- 
lon, come  up  with  the  horses  of  thy  chariot ;  bxiild  the  walls 
of  Ehulhul ;  and  have  the  seat  of  Sin,  the  great  lord,  set  with- 
in it.'  Reverently  I  made  answer  to  the  lord  of  the  gods, 
Merodach,  '  I  will  build  this  house  of  which  thou  speakest.' 
The  Sabmanda  destroyed  it,  and  strong  was  their  might.' 
Merodach  replied  to  me,  '  The  Sabmanda  of  whom  thou 
speakest,  they  and  their  country,  and  the  king  who  rules  over 
them,  shall  cease  to  exist.  In  the  third  year  he  (i.e.,  Mero- 
dach) caused  Cyrus,  king  of  Ansan,  his  young  servant,  to  go 
with  his  little  army :  he  overthrew  the  wide-spreading 
Sabmanda ;  he  captured  Istumegu  (i.e.,  Astyagesj,  king  of 
Sabmanda,  and  took  his  treasures  to  his  own  land."f 

The  civil  organization  of  the  Babylonian  kingdom  is  very 
imperfectly  known  to  us.  Neither  sacred  nor  profane  autho- 
rities furnish  more  than  scattered  and  incomplete  notices  of 
it.  We  gather  from  Daniel  merely  that  it  was  elaborate  and 
complicated,  involving  the  employment  by  the  crown  of 
numerous  officers,  discharging  distinct  functions,  and  possess- 
ing different  degrees  of  dignity.  The  names  given  to  the 
various  officers  by  Daniel  can  scarcely  be  those  which  were 
in  actual  use  under  the  Babylonian  monarch,  since  they  are 
in  many  cases  of  Aryan  etymology.  Most  likely  they  are  the 
equivalents  under  the  Medo-Per»ic  system,  which  was  estab- 
lished before  Daniel  wrote  his  book,  of  the  Babylonian  terms 
previously  in  vogue.  Still  in  some  instances  the  names  suf- 
ficiently indicate  the  offices  intended.  The  "princes"  (liter- 
ally "  satraps")  of  Dan.  iii.  2,  3,  27,  can  only  be  governors 
of  provinces  (compare  ch.  vi.  1),  chief  rulers  under  the  mon- 
arch of  the  main  territorial  divisions  of  his  empire.  Such 
persons  had  been  generally  employed  by  the  Assyrian  kings 
in  the  government  of  the  more  settled  part  of  their  do- 
minions, and  were  no  doubt  continued  by  the  Babylonians 
when  the  territories  of  Assyria  were  divided  between  them 
and  the  Modes.  Gedaliah  held  the  office  in  ,Tuda?a  imme- 
diately after  its  conquest  by  Nebuchadnezzar  (2  Kings  xxv. 
22-25;  Jer.  xl.  ft).  Another  such  Babylonian  governor  is 

*  "  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Arcluclogy,"  November, 
1HH2,  p.  7. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  37 

actually  called  a  "  satrap "  Iby  Berosus.*  Babylonian  wit- 
nesses to  contracts  still  in  existence  often  sign  themselves 
"  governor,"  sometimes  "  governor  "  of  a  province,  which 
they  mention. f  The  sayans  ("  governors  "  in  our  version) 
may  be  "  governors  of  towns,"  who  are  often  mentioned  in 
the  inscriptions  as  distinct  from  governors  of  provinces.  The 
"judges"  (literally  "noble  judges  ")  are  no  doubt  the  heads 
of  the  judicature,  which  was  separate  from  the  executive  in 
Babylonia,  as  in  Persia.^  They,  too,  appear  in  the  inscrip- 
tions^ as  do  "treasurers "and  "  captains." ||  It  is  not  in- 
tended to  assert  that  the  correspondence  between  Daniel's 
account  of  the  civil  administration  and  that  indicated  by  the 
Babylonian  remains  is  very  close  or  striking,  but  the  general 
features  certainly  possess  considerable  resemblance,  and 
there  is  as  much  agreement  in  the  details  as  could  fairly  be 
expected. 

The  employment  of  eunuchs  at  the  Babylonian  court, 
under  the  presidency  of  a  "  master  of  the  eunuchs,"  is  analo- 
gous to  the  well-known  practice  of  the  Assyrians,  where  the 
president,  or  "  master,"  bore  the  title  of  rab-saris,  or  "  chief 
eunuch  "  (2  Kings  xviii.  17).  It  also  receives  illustration 
from  the  story  of  Nanarus,  as  told  by  Nicholas  of  Damascus, 
a  writer  whose  Asiatic  origin  makes  him  a  high  authority 
upon  the  subject  of  Oriental  habits.  Nanarus,  according  to 
him,  was  one  of  the  later  Babylonian  monarchs,  a  successor 
of  the  Belesis  who  appears  to  represent  Nabopolassar.  His 
court  was  one  in  which  eunuchs  held  all  the  most  important 
positions  ;  and  the  head  eunuch,  Mitraphernes,  was  the  chief 
counselor  of  the  king. IT 

The  delight  of  the  Babylonians  in  music,  and  the  ad- 
vanced condition  of  the  art  among  them,  is  confirmed  and 
illustrated  by  the  same  story  of  Nanarus.  Nanarus,  accord- 
ing to  Nicholas  maintained  at  his  court  no  fewer  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  female  musicians,  of  whom  some  sang, 
while  others  played  upon  instruments.  Among  the  instru- 
ments indicated  are  three  of  those  mentioned  in  Daniel — the 
flute,  the  cithern  ("harp,"  A.V.),  and  the  psaltery.  Sculpt- 
ure does  not  readily  lend  itself  to  the  representation  of  so 

*Ap.  Joseph..  Contr.  Apion.,  i.,  19. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.,  pp.  34,  02,  98,  107. 

J  Herod,  iii.  31. 

§  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  120;  vol.  xi.,  103. 

II  Ibid.,  vol.  ix.,  p.  104;  vol.  xi.,  p.  103. 

TSee  the  Fraym.  Hist.  Gr.  vol.  iii.,  pp.  359-363. 


38  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

large  a  crowd,  but  we  see  in  a  bas-relief  of  a  date  a  little 
anterior  to  Nebuchadnezzar  a  band  of  twenty-six  performers.* 
At  least  eight  or  nine  different  instruments  were  known  to 
the  Assyrians,!  and  we  can  therefore  feel  no  surprise  that 
six  were  in  use  among  the  Babylonians  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
time. 

Considerable  difficulty  has  been  felt  w*ith  respect  to  the 
names  of  several  of  the  Babylonian  instruments.  These 
names  have  a  Greek  appearance  ;  and  it  has  been  asked  by 
critics  of  reputation,  "  How  could  Greek  musical  instruments 
have  been  used  at  Babylon  late  in  the  seventh,  or  early  in 
the  sixth  century  before  our  era?"  A  searching  analysis  of 
the  words  themselves  has  thrown  a  good  deal  of  doubt  on 
several  of  the  supposed  Greek  etymologies.  Kama  and 
jipac,  kitlieros  and  x^P1^  sabkah  and  ca^xn  are  no  doubt 
connected ;  but  one  of  them  is  a  root  common  to  Semitic 
with  Aryan,  while  the  other  two  passed  probably  from  the 
Orientals  to  the  Greeks.  The  Chaldee  karna  is  Hebrew 
keren,  and  is  at  least  as  old  in  Hebrew  as  the  Pentateuch  ; 
kitheros  in  Persian  sitareh,  Greek  X<^P^I  German  zither, 
modern  Arabic  koothir  ;  sabkah  is  from  sabak,  a  well-known 
Semitic  root,  and  is  an  appropriate  name  for  a  "  harp  "  in 
Hebrew ;  t  whereas  aa/i/Svxq  is  an  unmeaning  name  in  Greek. 
To  derive  mashrokitha  from  obpiyZ  requires  a  very  hardy  ety- 
mologist. The  two  words  may  conceivably  be  derivatives 
from  one  root ;  but  neither  can  possibly  have  been  the  direct 
parent  of  the  other.  Even  pesanterin  and  surnphonyah 
though  so  near  to  ^aXTt/ptov  and  uv/upuvia^  are  not  allowed 
by  all  critics  to  be  of  Greek  origin. §  Supposing,  however, 
that  they  arc,  and  that  they  imply  the  use  by  the  Baby- 
lonians of  Greek  instruments,  which  brought  their  names 
with  them  from  their  native  country,  as  "  pianoforte  "  and 
"  concertina  "  have  done  with  us,  there  is  nothing  extraor- 
dinary in  the  circumstance.  The  Assyrians  and  the  Greeks 
carne  into  contract  in  Cyprus  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Sar- 
gon,||  whose  effigy  has  been  found  at  Idalium.  Esar-haddon 
obtained  building  materials  from  several  Cyprian  kings  with 
Greek  names.H  As  the  inheritress  of  Assyrian  luxury  and 

*  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol  i.,  p.  311. 

t  Ibid.,  pp.  305-810. 

t  Pusey's  "  Daniel,"  p.  24,  note  9.  §  Ibid.,  pp.27-30. 

II  "  Ancient  Monarchies."  vol.  ii.,  p.  150. 

IT  "  Records  of  the  1'ast,"  vol.  Hi.,  p.  108. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  39 

magnificence,  Babylon  would  necessarily  have  some  connec- 
tion with  Greeks.  We  hear  of  a  Greek  having  served  in 
Nebuchadnezzar's  army,  and  won  glory  and  reward  under 
his  banners.*  Direct  intercourse  with  Hellenes  may  thus 
have  brought  Hellenic  instruments  to  Babylon.  Or  the  in- 
tercourse may  have  been  indirect.  The  Phoenicians  were 
eng.-iged  in  a  carrying  trade  between  Europe  and  Asia  from 
a  time,  anterior  to  Solomon  ;  and  their  caravans  were  con- 
tinually passing  from  Tyre  and  Sidon,  by  way  of  Tadmor 
and  Thapsacus,  to  the  Chaldaean  capital.  Nothing  would  be 
more  natural  than  the  importation  into  that  city,  at  any 
time  between  B.  c.  605  and  B.  c.  538,  of  articles  manufac- 
tured in  Greece,  which  the  Babylonians  were  likely  to 
appreciate. 

The  position  of  the  king  in  the  Babylonian  court,  as  abso- 
lute lord  and  master  of  the  lives  and  liberties  even  of  "the 
greatest  of  his  subjects,  able  to  condemn  to  death,  not  only 
individuals  (ch.  iii.  19),  but  a  whole  class,  and  that  class  the 
highest  in  the  state  (ch.  ii.  12-14),  is  thoroughly  in  accord- 
ance with  all  that  profane  history  tells  us  of  the  Babylonian 
governmental  system.  In  Oriental  monarchies  it  was  not 
always  so.  The  writer  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  shows  a  just 
appreciation  of  the  difference  between  the  Babylonian  and 
the  Medo-Persian  systems,  when  he  makes  Darius  the  Mede 
influenced  by  his  nobles,  and  compelled  to  do  things  against 
his  will  by  a  "  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  which  altered 
not"  (ch.  vi.  14-17)  ;  while  Nebuchadnezzar  the  Babylonian 
is  wholly  untrarnmeled,  and  does  not  seem  even  to  consult 
his  lords  on  matters  where  the  highest  interests  of  the  state 
are  concerned.  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  monarchs  were 
absolute  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word.  No  traditional 
"  law  "  restrained  them.  Their  nobility  was  an  official  no- 
bility, like  that  of  Turkey  at  the  present  day.  They  them- 
selves raised  it  to  power ;  and  it  lay  with  them  to  degrade 
its  members  at  their  pleasure.  Officers  such  as  the  tartan, 
or  "  commander-in-chief,"  the  rabshakeh,  or  "  chief  cup- 
bearer," and  the  rab-saris,  or  "chief  eunuch,"  held  the  high- 
est positions  (2  Kings  xviii.  17) — mere  creatures  of  the  king, 
whom  a  "  breath  had  made,"  and  a  breath  could  as  easily 
"  unmake."  The  kings,  moreover,  claimed  to  be  of  Divine 
origin,  and  received  Divine  honors.  "  Merodach,"  says  Nebu- 

*  Strab.  xiii.  3,  §  2. 


40  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

chadnezzar,  "  deposited  my  germ  in  my  mother's  womb."  * 
Khammurabi  claims  to  be  the  son  of  Merodach  and  Ri.f 
He  was  joined  in  inscriptions  with  the  great  gods,  Sin,  Sha- 
mas,  and  Merodach,  during  his  lifetime,  and  people  swore 
by  his  name.!  Amaragu  and  Naram-sin  are  also  said  to 
have  been  deified  while  still  living.§  It  was  natural  that 
those  who  claimed,  and  were  thought  to  hold  so  exalted  a 
position,  should  exercise  a  despotic  authority,  and  be  unre- 
sisted,  even  when  they  were  most  tyrannical. 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  p.  113.     « 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  8.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  p.  108. 

§  See  note  on  Dan.  vi.  7,  in  the  Speakers'  Commentary." 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  4,1 


CPIAPTER  V. 

FURTHER   NOTICES    OF   BABYLON   IN   DANIEL,. 

THE  character  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  depicted  in  the 
Book  of  Daniel,  is  confirmed  as  fully  as  could  be  expected, 
considering  the  nature  of  the  materials  that  have  come  down 
to  us  from  profane  sources.  These  materials  are  scanty,  and 
of  a  peculiar  character.  They  consist  of  a  very  few  brief 
notices  in  classical  writers,  and  of  some  half-dozen  inscriptions 
belonging  to  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar  himself,  and  ap- 
parently either  composed  by  him  or,  at  least,  put  forth  under 
his  authority.  These  inscriptions  are  in  some  cases  of  con- 
siderable length,*  and,  so  far,  might  seem  ample  for  the  pur- 
pose whereto  we  propose  to  apply  them  ;  but,  unfortunately, 
they  present  scarcely  any  variety.  With  the  exception  of  one, 
which  is  historical,  but  very  short  and  much  mutilated,f  they 
are  accounts  of  buildings,  accompanied  by  religious  invoca- 
tions. It  is  evident  that  such  records  do  not  afford  much 
opportunity  for  the  display  of  more  than  a  few  points  of 
character.  They  can  tell  us  nothing  of  those  qualities  which 
are  called  forth  in  action,  in  the  dealings  of  man  with  man, 
in  war,  in  government,  in  domestic  intercourse.  Thus  the 
confirmation  which  it  is  possible  to  adduce  from  this  source 
can  only  be  partial ;  and  it  is  supplemented  only  to  a  very 
small  extent  from  the  notices  of  the  classical  writers. 

The  most  striking  features  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  charac- 
ter, as  portrayed  for  us  in  Scripture,  and  especially  in  the 
Book  of  Daniel,  will  probably  be  allowed  to  be  the  follow- 
ing :  1.  His  cruelty.  Not  only  is  he  harsh  and  relentless  in 
his  treatment  of  the  foreign  enemies  who  have  resisted  him 
in  arms,  tearing  thousands  from  their  homes,  and  carrying 

*  One  of  them  consists  of  ten  columns,  with  an  average  of  sixty- 
two  lines  in  each,  and  in  the  "  IJecords  of  the  Past"  occupies  twenty- 
three  pages  (vol.  iii.,  pp.  113-135). 

t  See  the  "Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Bibl.  Archseology,"  vol. 
vii.,  pp.  218-222 


42  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

them  off  into  a  miserable  and  hopeless  captivity,  massacring 
the  chief  men  by  scores  (2  Kings  xxv.  18-21),  blinding  rebel 
kings  (ver.  7),  or  else  condemning  them  to  perpetual  im- 
prisonment (ver.  27),  and  even  slaying  their  sons  before 
their  eyes  (ver.  7)  ;  but  at  home  among  his  subjects  he  can 
condemn  to  death  a  whole  class  of  persons  for  no  fault  but 
inability  to  do  what  no  one  had  ever  been  asked  to  do  be- 
fore (Dan.  ii.  10-13),  and  can  actually  cast  into  a  furnace  of 
fire  three  of  his  best  officers,  because  they  decline  to  worship 
an  image  (iii.  20-23).  2.  His  pride  and  boast-fulness.  The 
pride  of  Nebuchadnezzar  first  shows  itself  in  Scripture  in 
the  contemptuous  inquiry  addressed  to  the  "  three  children" 
(Dan  iii.  15),  "  Who  is  that  God  that  shall  deliver  you  out 
of  my  hands  ?  "  Evidently  he  believes  that  this  is  beyond 
the  power  of  any  god.  He  speaks,  as  Sennacherib  spoke  by 
the  mouth  of  Rab-shakeh  :  "  Hearken  not  to  Hezekiah,  when 
he  persuadeth  you,  saying,  The  Lord  will  deliver  us.  Hath 
any  of  the  gods  of  the  nations  delivered  at  all  his  land  out 
of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria?  Where  are  the  gods  of 
Harmath  and  of  Arpad  ?  Where  are  the  gods  of  Sephnr- 
vaim,  Hen  a,  and  Ivah  ?  Have  they  delivered  Samaria  out 
of  mine  hand  ?  Who  are  they  among  the  gods  of  the  coun- 
tries, that  have  delivered  their  country  out  of  mine  hand, 
that  the  Lord  should  deliver  Jerusalem  out  of  mine  hand  ?  " 
(2  Kings  xviii.  82-35.)  The  event  shows  him  that  he  is 
mistaken,  and  that  there  is  a  God  who  can  deliver  his  ser- 
vants, and  "  change  the  king's  word  "  (Dan.  iii.  38),  and 
then  for  a  time  he  humbles  himself ;  but,  later  on,  the  be- 
setting sin  breaks  out  afresh  ;  "  his  heart  is  lifted  up,  and 
his  mind  hardened  in  pride  "  (ch.  v.  20),  and  he  makes  the 
boast  which  brings  upon  him  so  signal  a  punishment :  "  Is 
not  this  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  my 
kingdom,  l>;/tfie  rnif/ht  of  mi/  power,  and  for  the  honor  of'tny 
•////{/'<*/_///"'  The  punishment  inflicted  once  more  humbled 
him,  and  lie  confessed  finally  that  there  was  one,  "  the  King 
of  heaven,  all  whose  works  were  truth,  and  His  ways  judg- 
ment ; "  and  that  "  those  who  walk  in  pride  he  was  able  to 
abase"  (ch.  iv.  37).  3.  His  religiousness.  The  spoils  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  carried  off  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem 
he  did  not  convert  to  his  own  use,  nor  even  bring  into  the 
national  treasury;  but  "  put  them  in  his  temple  at  Babylon  " 
(•1  Chron.  xxxvi.  7),  and  "  brought  them  into  the  treasure/, 
house  of  his  god"  (Dan.  i.  2).  When  Daniel  revealed  to 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  43 

him  his  dream  and  its  interpretation  (ch.  ii.  27-45),  he  at 
once  confessed,  "  Of  a  truth  your  God  is  a  God  of  gods,  and 
a  Lord  of  kings,  and  a  revealer  of  secrets,  seeing  thou  couldst 
reveal  this  secret."  The  image  which  he  made,  and  set  up 
on  the  plains  of  Dura,  was  not  his  own  image,  but  an  image 
of  a  Babylonian  god  (ch.  iii.  12,  14,  18),  to  whom  he  was 
anxious  that  all  his  subjects  should  do  honor.  His  anger 
against  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego  was  not  so  much 
because  they  resisted  his  will,  as  because  they  would  not 
"  serve  his  god."  When  the  fiery  furnace  had  no  power  on 
them,  he  accepted  the  fact  as  proving  that  there  was  another 
God,  whom  he  had  not  known  of  previously,  and  at  once 
commanded  that  this  new  God  should  be  respected  through- 
out his  dominions  (ch.  iii.  29).  But  his  religiousness  culmi- 
nates in  the  last  scene  of  his  life  that  is  presented  to  us  in 
Scripture.  After  his  recovery  from  the  severe  affliction 
whereby  his  pride  was  punished,  he  at  once  "  lifted  up  his 
eyes  to  heaven,"  and  "  blessed  the  Most  High,  and  praised 
and  honored  Him  that  liveth  forever  "  (ch.  iv.  84),  and  made 
a  proclamation,  which  he  caused  to  be  published  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  his  vast  dominions  (ver.  1),  ac- 
knowledging his  sin,  and  declaring  that  he  "  honored  and 
extolled  the  King  of  heaven"  (ver.  37),  and  "thought  it 
good  to  show  the  signs  and  wonders  that  the  high  God  had 
wrought  toward  him  "  (ver.  2),  since  His  signs  were  great, 
and  His  wonders  mighty,  and  His  kingdom  an  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  His  dominion  from  generation  to  generation  " 
(ver.  3). 

A  fourth  and  special  characteristic  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
peculiar  to  him  among  the  heathen  monarchs  brought  under 
our  notice  in  Scripture,  is  the  mixed  character  of  his  religion, 
the  curious  combination  which  it  presents  of  monotheism 
witli  polytheism,  the  worship  of  one  God  with  that  of  many. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  polytheism  is  apparent  when  he  addresses 
Daniel  as  "  one  in  whom  is  the  spirit  of  the  holy  ffods  "  (ch. 
iv.  s,  9,  18),  and  again  when  he  calls  the  figure  which  he 
sees  walking  with  the  "  three  children  "  in  the  furnace  "  a 
son  of  the  fiod8Vrh$C^&bc(r-eWi'in(v\\.  iii.  25),  and  still  more 
plainly  when  he  rcVo'gnizes  the  God  who  has  delivered  the 
''children"  as  a  God,  "their  God  "  (ver.  28),  and  declares 
his  belief  that"  no  other  fjod  can  deliver  after  this  sort" 
(ver.  29).  His  monotheism  shows  itself — though  not  made 
apparent  in  our  version — when  he  sets  up  a  single  image, 


44  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

and  calls  on  the  people  to  worship  "  his  god  "  (ch.  iii.  14), 
when  he  recognizes  Daniel's  God  as  "  a  Lord  of  kings  and 
God  of  gods  "  (ch.  ii.  47),  and  most  conspicuously  when 
in  his  last  proclamation  he  acknowledges  "  the  high 
God"  Wfyy  Xrh^eldhd  'illdyd,  ch.  iv.  2),  "the  Most 
High  "T(  ver.  34T),T"'the  King  of  heaven"  (ver.  37),  Him 
that  "  liveth  for  ever "  (ver.  34),  and  "  doeth  according 
to  His  will  in  the  army  of  heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth,"  and  "  whose  hand  none  can  stay,  nor  can  any 
say  unto  Him,  What  doest  thou  ? "  (ver.  35.)  Either  he 
fluctuates  between  two  beliefs,  or  else  his  polytheism  is  of 
that  modified  kind  which  has  been  called  "  Kathenotheism,"  * 
where  the  worshiper,  on  turning  his  regards  to  any  par- 
ticular deity,  "  forgets  for  the  time  being  that  there  is  any 
other,  and  addresses  the  object  of  his  adoration  in  terms  of 
as  absolute  devotion  as  if  he  were  the  sole  god  whom  he  recog- 
nized, the  one  and  only  divine  being  in  the  entire  universe."! 

Limiting  ourselves,  for  the  present,  to  these  four  charac- 
teristics of  the  great  Babylonian  monarch — his  cruelty,  his 
boastful  pride,  his  religiousness,  and  the  curious  mixture  of 
two  elements  in  his  religion — let  us  inquire  how  far  they  are 
confirmed  or  illustrated  by  his  own  inscriptions,  or  by  the 
accounts  which  profane  writers  have  given  0*1  him. 

And  first,  with  respect  to  his  cruelty.  Here,  it  must  be 
confessed,  there  is  little,  if  any,  confirmation.  The  one  brief 
historical  inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  time  which  we 
possess  contains  no  notice  of  any  severities,  nor  is  the  point 
touched  in  the  few  fragments  concerning  him  which  are  all 
that  classical  literature  furnishes.  Berosus  mentions  the 
numerous  captives  whom  he  carried  off  to  Babylonia  in  bis 
first  campaign,!  but  does  not  seem  to  regard  their  fate  as 
exceptionally  wretched.  Josephus  gives  us  in  some  detail 
the  various  cruelties  recorded  of  him  in  Scripture,  and  adds 
others,  as  that  he  put  to  death  a  king  of  Egypt  whom  he 
conquered  ;  §  but  Josephus  is  scarcely  an  unprejudiced  wit- 
ness. Abydenus,  who  tells  us  more  about  him  than  any 
other  classical  writer  except  Berosus,  is  bent  on  glorifying 
him,  and  would  not  be  likely  to  mention  what  was  to  his 
discredit.  If,  however,  we  have  no  confirmation,  we  have 
abundant  illustrations  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  cruelties  in  the 

*  Max  Muller,  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,"  vol.  i.,  p.  28. 
t  See  the  author's  "  Koli^ions  of  the  Ancient  World,"  American 
£</..  \>.  ins.  :  A  p.  Joseph. ,Ant.  Jut.,  x.  11,  §  1. 

§  AI>.  Joseph..  Ant.  ./>«/.,  x.  5),  §  7. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  45 

accounts  given  us  of  their  own  doings  by  the  Assyrian  mou- 
archs  to  whose  empire  Nebuchadnezzar  had  succeeded. 
Assyrian  monarchs  transport  entire  nations  to  distant  lands, 
massacre  prisoners  by  scores  or  hundreds,  put  captive  kings 
to  death,  or  mutilate  them,  cut  men  to  pieces,*  and  even 
burnt  them  to  death  in  furnaces,  f  The  recorded  cruelties 
of  Xebuchadnezzar  pale  before  those  which  Asshur-bani-pal, 
the  son  of  Esar-haddon,  who  lived  less  than  a  century  earlier, 
mentions  as  commanded  by  himself,  and  executed  under  his 
orders.}: 

Nebuchadnezzar's  pride  and  boastfulness  were  noted 
by  Abydenus,  who  spoke  of  him  as  superbia  tumidus  and 
fastu  elatus.§  His  own  inscriptions  not  only  accumulate 
on  him  titles  of  honor  and  terms  of  praise,  but  seem  alto- 
gether composed  with  the  object  of  glorifying  himself  rather 
than  the  deities  whom  they  profess  to  eulogize.  Among  the 
titles  which  he  assumes  are  those  of  "glorious  prince,"  "the 
exalted,"  or  "  the  exalted  chief,"  "  the  possessor  of  intelli- 
gence," "  he  who  is  firm,  and  not  to  be  overthrown,"  "  the 
valiant  son  of  Nabopolassar,"  "the  devout  and  pious,"  "the 
lord  of  peace,"  "  the  noble  king,"  and  "  the  wise  Mage."  || 
Nebuchadnezzar  declares  that  "  the  god  Merodach  deposited 
his  germ  in  his  mother's  womb,"  that  "  Nebo  gave  into  his 
hand  the  sceptre  of  righteousness,"  that  Sin  was  "  the 
strengthcner  of  his  hands,"  that  Shamas  "perfected  good  in 
his  body,"  and  Gula  "  beautified  his  person."  H"  lie  boasts 
that  he  is  "the  eldest  son  of  Merodach,"  who  has  made  him 
"  the  chosen  of  his  heart ; "  **  he,  for  liis  part,  is  "  the  reioicer 
of  the  heart  of  Merodach."  ft  "Merodach  has  made  him  a 
surpassing  prince ; "  he  "has  extended  Merodach's  power ;  "$$ 
owing  his  own  exaltation  to  Merodach  and  Nebo,  he  has  ex- 
alted them  in  turn  ;  and  the  impression  left  is  that  they 
have  had  rather  the  better  of  the  bargain.  Other  Babylo- 
nian kings  are  moderate  in  their  self-praise  compared  with 
Nebuchadnezzar,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  inscriptions  and 
those  of  Neriglissar  and  Nabonidus. 

The  religiousness  of  Xebuchadnezzar  is  even  more  con- 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.,  p.  57. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  77;  vol.  ix.,  p.  5<>,  etc. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  57-102. 

§  "  Fr.  Hist.  Gra?c..  vol.  iv.,  p.  283,  Fr.  8. 

n  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  pp.  113,  114;  vol.  vii ,  pp.  71,  75. 
1  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  pp.  113,  114,  122,  123.  **  Ibid.,  p.  125. 

tt  Ibid.,  p.  134.  }t  Ibid.,  p.  134. 


46  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

spicuous  in  his  inscriptions  than  his  pride.  Not  only  waa 
he,  as  a  modern  writer  expresses  it,  "  faithful  to  the  ortho- 
doxy of  his  day,"  *  but  a  real  devotion  to  his  gods  seems  to 
have  animated  him.  His  own  name  for  himself  is  "the 
heaven-adoring  king."  f  he  places  some  god,  generally  Mero- 
dach,  in  the  forefront  of  every  inscription  ;  acknowledges 
that  his  life  and  success  were  the  fruit  of  the  divine  favor ; 
labors  to  show  his  gratitude  by  praises  and  invocations,  by 
the  presentation  of  offerings,  the  building  and  repair  of  tem- 
ples, the  adornment  of  shrines,  the  institution  of  processions 
and  the  proclamation  of  each  god  by  his  proper  titles.^  He 
speaks  of  Merodach  "  accepting  the  devotion  of  his  heart ;  "§ 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  speaks  sincerely. 
He  looks  to  his  deities  for  blessings,  beseeches  them  to  sus- 
tain his  life,  to  keep  reverence  for  them  in  his  heart,  to  give 
him  a  long  reign,  a  firm  throne,  abundant  and  vigorous  off- 
spring, success  in  war,  and  a  record  of  his  good  deeds  in 
their  book.  ||  He  hopes  that  these  good  deeds  are  acceptable 
to  them,  and  are  regarded  with  satisfaction  :  whether  he  ex- 
pects them  to  be  rewarded  in  another  life  is  not  apparent. 

The  peculiar  character  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  religion — • 
at  one  time  polytheistic,  at  another  monotheistic — is  also 
evidenced  by  his  inscriptions.  The  polytheism  is  seen  in 
the  distinct  and  separate  acknowledgment  of  at  least  thir- 
teen deities,  to  most  of  whom  he  builds  temples,  as  well  as 
in  his  mention  of  "  the  great  gods,"  IT  and  the  expressions 
"  chief  of  the  yods"  king  of  yods"  and  "  god  of  yods" 
which  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  The  monotheism,  or  at 
least  the  "  kathenotheism,"  discloses  itself  in  the  attitude 
assumed  toward  Merodach,  who  is  "  the  great  Lord,"  "  the 
(iod  his  maker,"  "  the  Lord  of  all  beings,"  "  the  Prince  of 
the  lofty  house,"  "  the  chief,  the  honorable,  the  Prince  of 
the  gods,  the  great  Merodach,"  "  the  Divine  Prince,  the 
Deity  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  Lord  God,"  "  the  King  of 
gods  and  Lord  of  lords,"  "  the  chief  of  the  gods,"  "  the 
Lord  of  the  gods,"  "  the  God  of  gods,"  and  "  the  King  of 
heaven  and  earth."  Nebuchadnezzar  assigns  to  Merodach  a 
pre-eminence  which  places  him  on  a  pedestal  apart  from  and 

*  G.  Smith,  "History  of  Babylonia,  p.  1(57. 
t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  78. 
J  "  Ibid.,  v.,  pp.113,  114,  etc.  §  Ibid.,  p.  114. 

II  Ibid.,  vol.  vii.,  pp.  72-77. 

f  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vo..  v,  p.  120;  "  Trans,  of  Bibl.  Arch 
Soc.,  vol.  vii.,  p.  219. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  «7 

above  all  the  other  deities  of  his  pantheon.  lie  does  not 
worship  him  exclusively,  but  he  worships  him  mainly  : 
and  when  engaged  in  the  contemplation  of  his  greatness, 
scarcely  takes  into  account  the  existence  of  any  other  deity. 
Xo  other  Babylonian  king  is  so  markedly  the  votary  of  one 
!;od  :is  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  though,  no  doubt,  something  of 
;>  similar  spirit  may  be  traced  in  the  inscriptions  of  Kham- 
murabi,  of  Neriglissar,  and  of  Nabonidus. 

Besides  the  main  traits  of  character,  of  which  we  have 
hitherto  spoken,  there  are  certain  minor  features  in  the 
biblical  portraiture  which  seem  entitled  to  mention.  Nebu- 
chadnezzar is  brave  and  energetic.  He  leads  his  armies  in 
person  ('2  Kings  xxiv.  1,  10  ;  xxv.  1  ;  Jcr.  xxi.  2  ;  xxiv.  1  ; 
xxxiv.  1,  etc.),  presses  his  enterprises  vigorously,  is  not 
easily  discouraged  or  rebuffed,  has  the  qualities  of  a  good 
general,  is  brave,  "  bold  in  design,  and  resolute  in  action."* 
His  own  inscriptions  so  far  agree,  that  they  represent  him 
as  making  war  upon  Egypt,!  as  desiring  "  the  conquest  of 
his  enemies'  land,"  $  and  as  looking  forward  to  the  ac- 
cumulation at  his  great  Babylonian  temple  of  "  the  abundant 
tribute  of  the  kings  of  nations  and  of  all  people."§  Profane 
historians  go  far  beyond  this  ;  they  represent  him  as  one  of 
the  greatest  of  conquerors.  Berosus  ascribes  to  him  the  con- 
quest  of  Syria,  Phoenicia,  Egypt,  ami  Arabia  !  ||  Abydenus 
says  that  he  was  "  more  valiant  than  Hercules,"  and  not 
only  reduced  Egypt,  but  subdued  all  Libya,  as  far  as  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  thence  passing  over  into  Spain, 
Conquered  the  Iberians,  whom  he  took  with  him  to  Asia, 
and  settled  in  the  country  between  Armenia  and  the 
Caucasus  !  H  Menander  and  Philostratus  spoke  of  his  thir- 
teen-years-long  siege  of  Tyre  ;  **  and  Megasthenes  put  him 
on  a  par  with  Sesostris  and  Tirhakah.tt 

The  religion  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  tinged  with  superstition.  We  are  told  in  Script- 
ure that  on  one  occasion  a  "  king  of  Babylon,"  who  can  be 
110  other  than  he,  in  one  of  his  military  expeditions,  u  stood 

*  G.  Smith,  "  History  of  Babylonia,"  p.  166. 

t  "  Transactions  of  Society  of  Bibl.  Archaeology,"  vol.  vii..  p.  220. 

}  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  77. 

§  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  p.  135. 

|j  ''See  the  fragments  of  Berosus  in  the  ''Fr.  Hist.  Or.,"  vol.  ii, 
fr.  14.  1  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  283,  Fr.  I). 

**  Ap.  Joseph..  Ant.  Jud.,  x.  11.  §  1,  mibfn. 
tt  Ap.  Strab.,  xv.  1,  §  (5. 


48  EGYPT  AND  BAB YL ON. 

at  the  parting  of  the  way,  at  the  head  of  the  two  ways,  to 
use  divination.  He  made  his  arrows  bright  (or  rather,  '  he 
shook  his  arrows')  ;  he  consulted  with  images  ;  he  looked 
in  the  liver.  At  his  right  hand  was  the  divination  for 
Jerusalem "  (Ezek.  xxi,  21,  22).  That  is  to  say,  having 
come  to  a  certain  point  on  his  march,  where  the  road  parted, 
leading  on  the  right  hand  towards  Jerusalem,  and  on  the 
left  towards  Rabbath  of  Ammon,  instead  of  deciding  on  his 
course  by  military  considerations,  he  employed  divination, 
and  allowed  his  campaign  to  be  determined  by  a  use  of  lots 
and  a  consultation  of  the  entrails  of  victims.  He  showed  an 
equal  superstitiousness  when,  as  we  read  on  the  Borsippa 
cylinder,*  he  could  not  allow  himself  to  commence  the  work 
of  restoration,  which  the  great  temple  of  the  Seven  Spheres 
so  imperatively  needed,  until  he  had  first  waited  for  "  a 
fortunate  month,"  and  in  that  fortunate  month  found  an 
"  auspicious  day."  Then,  at  length,  "  the  bricks  of  its  wall, 
and  the  slabs  that  covered  it,  the  finest  of  them,  he  collected, 
and  rebuilt  the  ruins  firmly.  Inscriptions  written  in  his  own 
name  he  placed  within  it,  in  the  finest  apartments  (?),  and 
of  completing  the  upper  part  he  made  an  end."  f  It  has 
been  said  that  all  Babylonian  kings  were  equally  supersti- 
tious, and  even  that  "  the  Babylonians  never  started  on  an 
expedition,  or  commenced  any  work,  without  consulting 
the  omens,"  $  but  no  proof  has  been  given  of  this  assertion, 
and  certainly  neither  Neriglissar  nor  Nabonidus  relate  that 
they  waited  for  "  fortunate  days  "  to  commence  their  works 
of  restoration. 

No  doubt  there  are  points  in  the  character  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar with  respect  to  which  neither  his  own  inscriptions 
nor  the  remains  of  classical  antiquity  furnish  any  illustration. 
His  hasty  and  violent  temper,  quick  to  take  offence,  and 
rushing  at  once  to  the  most  extreme  measures  (Dan.  ii.  9, 
12;  iii.  13,  19),  is  known  to  us  only  from  the  Book  of  Daniel, 
and  the  writers  who  follow  that  book  in  their  account  of 
him  ;  e.g.,  Josephus.  His  readiness  to  relent,  and  his  kindly 
impulse  to  make  amends  (ch.  ii.  40, 49 ;  iii.  26-80),  are  also 
traits  unnoticed  by  profane  authors,  and  unapparent  in  hii 
inscriptions.  But  no  surprise  ought  to  be  felt  at  this.  We 
could  only  expect  to  find  evidence  of  such  qualities  in  in- 
scriptions of  a  different  character  from  those  which  havo 

•  "  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  in  the  author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  586. 
t  "  Kecords  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  77.      J  Ibid.,"  vol.  v ,  p.  58. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  49 

come  down  to  us.  Should  the  annals  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
ever  be  recovered,  and  should  they  be  on  the  scale  of  those 
left  by  Asshur-bani-pal,  or  even  those  of  Sennacherib,  Sargon, 
and  other  earlier  Assyrian  kings,  we  might  not  improbably 
meet  with  indications  of  the  great  king's  moods  and  tempera- 
ment. The  one  historical  inscription  which  we  have  is 
insufficient  for  the  purpose.  As  originally  written,  extended 
only  to  thirty  lines,  and  of  these  there  is  not  one  which  is 
not  mutilated.*  Xor  are  the  remains  of  the  profane  histo- 
rians who  treat  of  his  time  such  as  naturally  to  supply  the 
deficiency.  Of  the  account  which  Berosus  gave  of  him,  we 
possess  but  one  considerable  fragment;  of  Abydenus,  we 
nave  two  shorter  ones ;  the  remaining  writers  furnish  only 
a  few  sentences  or  a  few  lines.  It  is  unfortunate  that  this 
should  be  so  ;  but  so  it  is.  Had  the  "  Babylonian  History  " 
of  Berosus  come  down  to  us  complete,  or  had  kind  fate 
permitted  that  Antimenides,  the  brother  of  Alcaeus,  should 
have  written,  and  time  have  spared  a  record  of  his  Babylonian 
experiences,  the  slighter  details  and  more  delicate  shades  of 
the  monarch's  character  might  have  been  laid  open  to  us. 
At  present  we  have  to  content  ourselves  with  treating  the 
broader  features  and  more  salient  points  of  a  character  that 
was  not  without  many  minor  tones  and  some  curious  com- 
plications. 

•  See  "  Transactions  of  Soc.  of  Bibl.  Arch,"  vol.  vii.,  pp.  218-222. 


50  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FTJBTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLOX  IX  BAXIEL. 

"  The  king  spake,  and  said,  Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that  I  hav<» 
built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom  by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  for 
the  honor  of  my  majesty  '?  " — Dan.  iv.  30. 

WHEX  we  think  of  the  enormous  size  of  Babylon,  ac- 
cording to  the  most  trustworthy  accounts,  it  seems  a  most 
audacious  boast  on  the  part  of  any  one  man,  that  he  had 
built  the  whole  of  it.  According  to  Herodotus,*  who  rep- 
resents himself  as  having  visited  the  city  about  B.  c.  450, 
the  walls  formed  a  circuit  of  480  stades,  or  fifty-five  miles, 
enclosing  a  square  space,  which  was  120  stades,  or  nearly 
fourteen  miles  each  way.  Strabo  reduced  the  circuit  to  385 
stades,  |  Quintus  Curtius  to  368,  %  Clitarchus  to  365,  §  and 
Ctesias  to  360.  ||  If  we  accept  the  smallest  of  these  estimates, 
it  will  give  us  a  square  of  above  ten  miles  each  way,  and  con- 
sequently an  area  of  above  a  hundred  square  miles.  This  is 
a  spacefour  times  as  great  as  that  of  Paris  within  the  enceinte, 
and  fully  double  that  of  London  within  the  bills  of  mor- 
tality. 

No  doubt  it  is  true  that  only  a  portion  of  this  immense 
area  was  covered  by  buildings.  The  district-within  the  walls 
represented  a  vast  entrenched  camp,  more  than  what  we  now 
mean  by  a  city.H  Aristotle  remarks  with  respect  to  it :  "  It 
is  not  walls  by  themselves  that  make  a  town.  Otherwise 
one  would  only  have  to  surround  the  Peloponnese  with  a  wall 
[in  order  to  constitute  it  a  city].  The  case  is  the  same  with 
Babylon  and  all  other  towns,  the  walls  of  whicli  enclose 
rather  a  nation  than  a  body  of  citizens."**  Large  portions  of 
the  space  enclosed  were  occupied  by  gardens,  orchards,  and 
palm  groves;  some  part  of  it  was  even  devoted  to  the  culti- 
vation of  corn.  It  was  calculated  that,  in  case  of  a  siege, 

*  Herod.,  i.  178.  t  Strab.,  xvi.  1,  §  5. 

J  Vit.  Alex.  Magn.,  v.  1.        §  Ap.  Diod.  Sic.,  ii.  7,  §  3.     ||  Ibid 
If  Lenonnant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  220. 
•*  Aristot.  Pol.,  ill.,  1,  sub.  fin. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  51 

the  inhabitants  might,  by  making  the  best  use  of  all  the 
unoccupied  ground,  raise  grain  sufficient  for  their  own  con- 
sumption.* Still,  the  area  devoted  to  buildings  was  very 
large.  The  royal  quarter,  or  palatial  inclosure,  as  arranged 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  seems  to  have  extended  some  miles,  both 
in  length  and  breadth.  Outside  this  was  the  city  proper, 
laid  out  on  a  regular  plan,  in  streets  cutting  each  other  at 
right  angles, f  like  Manheim  and  most  American  cities. 
The  extent  of  this  can  only  be  guessed,  for  "  the  ninety 
stadcs  "  of  Curtius  is  excessive  as  a  diameter,  insufficient  as 
a  circumference. 

The  height  and  massive  character  of  the  buildings  was 
as  remarkable  as  the  area  that  they  covered.  Even  the 
ordinary  houses  of  the  inhabitants  were,  in  many  instances, 
three  or  four  stories  high.J  The  solidity  and  strength  of 
the  walls  was  most  extraordinary.  Herodotus  estimates  their 
width  at  fifty,  their  height  at  two  hundred  cubits.§  He  adds 
that  the  cubit  of  which  he  speaks  is  otae  of  unusual  length. 
IHodorus  Siculus,  who  folknvs  Ctesias,  agrees  almost  exactly 
as  to  the  height,  which  he  makes  fifty  fathoms,  ||  or  three  hun- 
dred ordinary  feet.  Pliny, IF  and  Solinus  **  reduce  the  three 
hundred  feet  of  Diodorus  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-live; 
while  Strabo,  who  may  be  supposed  to  follow  the  historians  of 
.Alexander,  makes  a  further  and  still  greater  reduction, 
estimating  the  height  at  no  more  than  seventy-five  feet. ft 
Even  this  low  figure  implies  a  mass  of  brickwork  amounting 
to  thirteen  hundred  and  ninety  millions  (1,390,000,000)  of 
square  feet,  and  would  have  required  for  its  construction  at 
1  .  -i  three  times  that  number  of  the  largest  bricks  known  to 
the  Babylonians.  If  we  accept  the  estimate  of  height  given 
by  Pliny  and  Solinus,  we  must  multiply  these  amounts  by 
three ;  If  we  prefer  that  of  Diodorus,  by  four ;  if  that  of 
Herodotus,  by  four  and  a  half.  On  the  supposition  that 
Herodotus  has  correctly  reported  the  dimensions  of  the  wall 
in  his  day,  to  build  it  would  have  required  eighteen  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  sixtv-five  millions  (18,765,000,000)  of  the 
largest  Babylonian  bricks  known  to  us. 

The  royal  quarter,  or  palatial  enclosure,  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's time,  comprised  three,  or  according  to  some, ft  four 

*  Q.  Curt.,  1.  s.  c.  t    Herod.,  i.  ISO. 

t  Herod.,  i.  180.  §  Ibid.,  i.  178.  II  Diod.  Sic.  ii.  7,  §  3. 

1  //.  -Y.,  vi.  26.        **  "  Polyhist."  §  (10.  tt  Strab..  xvi.  1.  §  5. 

Jt  Op  pert,  "Expedition  Scientitique  en  Mesopotamie,"  vol.  L, 
Plau  of  Babylon- 


52  EGYPT  AND  BABYLOJT. 

principal  buildings.  These  were  the  old  palace,  the 
palace,  the  hanging  gardens,  and  (ifi  we  allow  it  to  have  been 
a  sort  of  adjunct  to  the  palace)  the  great  temple  of  Bel- 
Merodach.  It  was  also  guarded  by  a  wall,  which  Herodotus 
declares  to  have  been  "  very  little  inferior  in  strength  "  to 
the  outer  wall  of  the  city  ;  *  and  it  contained  further  a  vast 
artificial  reservoir. f  Some  account  must  be  given  of  these 
various  buildings  and  constructions  before  we  can  appreciate 
fully  Nebuchadnezzar's  greatness  as  a  builder. 

The  "  old  palace  "  seems  to  be  represented  by  the  modern 
"  mound  of  Amram."  This  is  a  huge  mass  of  ruins,  almost 
triangular  in  its  present  shape,  occupying  the  more  southern 
portion  of  the  ancient  "  royal  city."  It  is  about  a  thousand 
yards  along  its  south-western  or  principal  side,  which  faced 
the  river,  and  has  perhaps  been  washed  into  its  present  re- 
ceding line  by  water  action.  The  northern  face  of  the  mound 
measures  about  seven  hundred  yards,  and  the  eastern  about 
eight  hundred,  the  triangle  being  thus  scalene,  with  its 
shortest  side,  facing  northward. $  The  mound  is  deeply 
furrowed  with  ravines,  worn  by  the  rains  in  the  friable  soil ; 
its  elevation  «above  the  level  of  the  plain  is  nowhere  very 
considerable,  but  amounts  in  places  to  about  fifty  or  sixty 
feet.§  Excavators  have  driven  galleries  into  it  in  various 
directions,  but  have  found  little  to  reward  their  labors  ;  no 
walls  or  distinct  traces  of  buildings  of  any  kind  have  pre- 
sented themselves.  A  few  bricks,  belonging  to  early  kings 
of  Babylon,  are  all  that  it  has  yielded, — enough,  perhaps, 
to  confirm  the  conjecture  that  it  represents  the  site  of  the 
"  old  palace,"  but  otherwise  uninteresting.  The  huge  mass 
seems  to  be,  in  reality,  less  a  palace  than  a  mound — the  basis 
or  substratum  on  which  once  stood  a  royal  edifice,  which  has 
now  wholly  disappeared.  It  was  no  doubt  purely  artificial ; 
but  whether  originally  constructed  of  unbaked  bricks,  or 
merely  of  the  natural  soil  of  the  country,  may  be  doubted. 
At  present  it  consists  wholly  of  a  soft  and  friable  mould, 
interspersed  with  a  few  fragments  of  bricks.  The  mound 
covers  a  space  of  about  thirty-seven  acres.  || 

If  the  "  mound  of  Amram  "  represent  the  "  old  palace  " 

»  Herod.,  i.  181. 

t  See  the    "  Standard   Inscription    of  Nebuchadnzzar "  in  the 
author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol  ii.,  p.  587. 

|  See  the  author's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  179,  180. 
§  Rich,  "  Memoir  on  the  Ruins  of  Babylon,"  p.  61. 
II  Oppert,  "Expedition  Scientifique,"  vol.  i.,  p.  157. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  53 

of  the  Babylonian  kings,  the  "  new  palace,"  which  adjoined 
it,*  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  correctly  identified  with  the 
"  great  mound  "  which  immediately  succeeds  the  Ami-am 
mound  towards  the  north,  and,  according  to  some  writers,  is 
connected  with  it  by  a  broad  causeway.f  The  name  Turn-, 
or  "  palace,"  still  attaches  to  this  mass  of  ruins.  The  "  Kasr 
mo\md"is  an  oblong  square,  about  seven  hundred  yards 
long  by  six  hundred  broad,  with  the  sides  facing  the  cardinal 
points. $  Like  the  Amram  hill,  it  is  wholly  of  artificial  origin, 
but  is  composed  of  somewhat  better  material,  as  loose  bricks, 
tiles,  and  fragments  of  stones.  It  contains  at  least  one  sub- 
terranean passage,  which  is  seven  feet  high,  floored  and 
walled  with  baked  bricks,  and  roofed  over  with  great  blocks 
of  sandstone,  which  reach  from  side  to  side.  This  passage 
may  have  been  either  a  secret  exit  or  a  gigantic  drain — more 
probably  the  latter.  On  the  summit  of  the  mound  (which 
is  seventy  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain),  not  very  far 
from  the  centre,  are  the  remains  of  the  palace  proper,  from 
which  the  mound  is  named.  This  is  a  building  of  excellent 
brick  masonry,  in  a  wonderful  state  of  preservation,  consist- 
ing of  walls,  piers,  and  buttresses,  and  in  places  ornamented 
with  pilasters,  but  of  too  fragmentary  a  character  to  furnish 
the  modern  inquirer  with  any  clue  to  the  original  plan  of  the 
edifice.  Probably  it  did  not  greatly  differ  from  the  palaces 
of  the  Assyrian  monarchs  at  Nimrud,  Koyunjik,  and  Khor- 
sabad,  consisting,  like  them,  of  a  series  of  courts,  great  halls, 
galleries,  and  smaller  apartments,  ornamented  throughout 
with  sculptured  or  painted. figures,  and  with  inscriptions  in 
places.  Fragments  of  the  ornamentation  have  been  found. 
One  of  these  is  a  portion  of  a  slab  of  stone,  representing  a 
frieze,  where  the  abacus  was  supported  by  a  series  of  figures 
of  gods,  sculptured  in  low  relief,  with  their  names  attached  to 
them.§  The  remainder  are,  for  the  most  part,  fragments  of 
bricks,  one  side  of  which  was  painted  in  bright  colors,  and 
covered  with  a  thick  enamel  or  glace.  "The  principal  col- 
ors are  a  brilliant  blue,  red,  a  deep  yellow,  white,  and  black." | 
Portions  of  the  figures  of  men  and  animals  have  been  de- 
tected upon  these  fragments,  which  are  so  numerous  as  fully 

*  Berosus,  ap:  Joseph,  "  Ant.  Jud."  x.  11,  §  1.  t  Rich,  p.  62. 

t  "Ancient  Monarchies."  vol.  ii.,  p.  ITS. 
§  "Ancient  Monarchies."  vol  ii.,  p.  194. 
||  Layard,  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon^'  p.  507. 


34  EG  YP  T  AND  BA  B  YL  ON. 

to  bear  out  the  statement  of  Diodorus,*  that  the  palace 
walls  were  artistically  adorned  with  colored  representations 
of  war  scenes  and  hunting  scenes,  wherein  the  kings,  and 
sometimes  the  queens,  were  depicted  on  horseback  or  on 
foot,  contending  with  leopards  or  with  lions,  and  with  spear 
or  javelin  dealing  them  their  death  stroke.  Such  were  the 
"  men  portrayed  upon  the  wall,"  which  the  Jewish  captives 
saw  at  Babylon,  and  on  which  they  doted ;  "  the  images  of 
the  Chaldeans  portrayed  with  vermilljon,  girded  with  girdles 
upon  their  loins,  exceeding  in  dyed  attire  upon  their  heads, 
all  of  them  princes  to  look  to,  after  the  manner  of  the  Baby- 
lonians of  Chaldea,  the  land  of  their  nativity"  (Ezek.  xxiii. 
14, 15).  The  palace  is  said  to  have  been  further  ornamented 
with  statues  ;f  and  the  figure  of  a  colossal  lion,  which  stands 
upon  the  mound,  north-east  of  the  Kasr  building,  may  lend 
a  certain  support  to  this  statement. 

The  "hanging  gardens"  were  regarded  as  one  of  the 
seven  wonders  of  the  world. $  They  were  said  to  have  been 
constructed  for  the  delectation  of  a  Median  princess,  who 
disliked  the  flat  monotony  of  the  Babylonian  plain,  and  longed 
for  something  that  might  remind  her  of  the  irregularities  of 
nature  in  her  own  country.§  The  construction  is  described 
in  terms  which  are  somewhat  difficult  to  understand ;  but, 
by  comparing  the  several  accounts,  ||  we  gather  that  the 
structure  was  a  square,  400  feet  each  way,  elevated  to  the 
height  of  at  least  150  feet,  and  consisting  of  several  tiers  of 
arches,  superimposed  one  upon  another,  after  the  manner 
employed  by  the  Romans  in  the  construction  of  their  amphi- 
theatres. The  building  was  divided  into  as  many  stories  as 
there  were  tiers  of  arches,  the  number  of  these  being  uncer- 
tain, and  was  supported  by  internal  walls  of  great  thickness. 
In  these  stories  were  many  palatial  apartments,  where  visit- 
ore  rested  on  their  way  to  the  upper  terrace ;  and  in  the 
uppermost  story  was  a  room  containing  hydraulic  machinery, 
whereby  water  was  raised  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  level  of 
the  garden  itself.  This  was  superimposed  on  the  uppermost 
tier  of  arches,  and  was  a  flat  surface  composed  of  four  layers ; 
first,  one  of  reeds  mixed  with  bitumen  ;  next,  one  of  brick- 
work, then  one  of  lead,  and  finally  a  thick  layer  of  earth, 

*  Diod.  Sic.,  li.  8.  t  Ibid. 

J  Ahydcnus,  Fr.  0.  ad  fin.;  Strab.,  xvi.  1,  §  5.         §  Berosus,  Fr.  14. 
II  Those  of  Diod.  Sic.  (ii.  10).  Strabo  (xvi.  1,  §  5).  aud  Q.  Curtiua 
(*•  1). 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  55 

affording  ample  depth  for  the  roots  of  the  largest  trees.  The 
garden  was  planted  with  trees  and  shrubs  of  various  kinds, 
and  possibly  with  flowers,  though  they  are  not  mentioned. 
A  spacious  pleasure-ground  was  thus  provided  as  an  adjunct 
to  the  palace,  where  royalty  was  secure  from  observation,  and 
where  the  delights  of  umbrageous  foliage,  flashing  fountains, 
gay  llower-beds,  and  secluded  walks  could  be  obtained  at  the 
cost  of  mounting  a  staircase  somewhat  longer  than  those  of 
our  great  London  and  Paris  hotels. 

The  great  temple  of  Bel-Merodach  is  probably  identified 
with  the  massive  ruin  which  lies  due  north  of  the  Kasr 
mound,  at  the  distance  of  about  a  mile.  This  is  a  vast  pile 
of  brickwork,  of  an  irregular  quadrilateral  shape,  with  pre- 
cipitous sides  furrowed  by  ravines,  and  with  a  nearly  flat 
top.*  Of  the  four  faces  of  the  ruin,  the  southern  seems  to 
be  the  most  perfect.  It  extends  a  distance  of  two  hundred 
yards,  or  almost  exactly  a  stade,  and  runs  nearly  in  a  straight 
line  from  east  to  west.  At  its  eastern  extremity  it  forms  a 
right  angle  with  the  east  face,  which  runs  nearly  due  north 
for  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  yards,  also  almost  in  a 
straight  line.  The  other  two  faces  are  very  much  worn'away, 
but  probably  in  their  original  condition  corresponded  to  those 
already  described.  .  The  building  was  thus  not  an  exact 
square,  but  a  parallelogram,  with  the  shorter  sides  propor- 
tioned to  the  longer  as  nine  to  ten.  The  ruin  rises  towards 
its  centre,  where  it  attains  an  elevation  of  nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet.  It  shows  signs  of  having  been  enclosed 
within  a  precinct.  Beyond  a  doubt,  it  is  the  edifice  which 
Herodotus  describes  as  follows : — "  In  the  other  division  of 
the  town  was  the  sacred  precinct  of  Jupiter  Belus,  a  square 
enclosure  two  stades  each  way,  with  gates  of  solid  brass ; 
which  was  also  remaining  in  my  time.  In  the  middle  of  the 
precinct  there  was  a  tower  of  solid  masonry,  a  stade  both  in 
length  and  in  breadth,  upon  which  was  raised  a  second  tower, 
and  upon  that  a  third,  and  so  on  up  to  eight.  The  ascent  to 
the  top  is  on  the  outside,  by  a  path  which  winds  round  all 
the  towers.  When  one  is  about  half-way  up,  one  finds  a  rest- 
ing-place and  seats,  where  persons  are  wont  to  sit  some  time 
on  their  way  to  the  summit.  On  the  topmost  tower  there  is 
a  spacious  temple,  and  inside  the  temple  stands  a  couch  of 
unusual  size,  richly  adorned,  with  a  golden  table  by  its  side 

*  See  li  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  177,  178. 


56  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  temple  contains  no  image."  *  Herodotus  adds :  "  Below, 
in  the  same  precinct,  there  is  a  second  temple,  in  which  is  a 
sitting  figure  of  Jupiter,  all  of  gold.  Before  the  figure  stands 
a  large  golden  table  ;  and  the  throne  whereon  it  sits,  and  the 
base  on  which  the  throne  is  placed,  are  likewise  of  gold. 
The  Chaldeans  told  me  that  all  the  gold  together  was  eight 
hundred  talents  in  weight.  Outside  this  temple  are  two 
altars,  one  of  solid  gold,  on  which  it  is  only  lawful  to  offer 
sucklings ;  the  other  a  common  altar,  but  of  great  size,  on 
which  the  full-grown  animals  are  sacrificed."  f  The  lower 
temple  has  disappeared,  as  have  the  altars  and  the  upper 
stages  of  the  Great  Temple  tower;  but  the  massive  basis 
remains  a  solid  piece  of  brickwork  containing  about  four 
millions  of  square  feet,  and  requiring  for  its  construction  at 
least  twelve  millions  of  the  largest  bricks  made  by  the  Baby- 
lonians. If  the  upper  stages  at  all  resembled  those  of  the 
Great  Temple  of  Borsippa,  the  bricks  needed  for  the  entire 
building  must  have  been  three  times  as  many. 

The  artificial  reservoir  attached  to  the  new  palace  is 
often  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  of  Nebuchadnezzar.! 
It  was  called  the  Yapur-Shapu,  and  was  probably  of  an 
oblong  square  shape,  with  sides  protected  by  a  massive  facing 
of  burnt  brick.  If  we  accept  the  identification  of  its  site 
suggested  by  Sir  H.  Rawlinson,  §  we  must  assign  it  a  width 
of  about  a  hundred  yards,  and  a  length  of  nearly  a  mile. 

Among  the  other  marvels  of  Babylon,  according  to  the 
ancient  writers,  were  a  tunnel  and  a  bridge.  The  tunnel 
was  carried  under  the  bed  of  the  Euphrates,  and  was  an 
arched  passage,  lined  thi-oughout  with  baked  brick  laid  in 
bitumen,  the  lining  having  a  thickness  of  twenty  bricks. 
The  width  of  the  tunnel  was  fifteen  feet,  and  its  height,  to 
the  spring  of  the  arch,  twelve  feet.|j  The  length  was  about 
a  thousand  yards,  or  considerably  more  than  half  a  mile. 

The  bridge  was  a  structure  composed  of  wood,  metal,  and 
stone.  In  the  bed  of  the  Euphrates  were  built  a  number  of 
strong  stone  piers,  at  the  distance  of  twelve  feet  apart,  which 
presented  to  the  current  a  sharp  angle  that  passed  gradually 
into  a  gentle  curve.  The  stones  were  massive,  and  fastened 

»  Herod.,  1.  181.  t  Ibid.,  i.  183. 

|  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  pp.  125,  126,  130,  etc. 
§  See  the  author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  Hi.,  p.  580. 
||  Diod.  Sic.,  ii.  9. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  57 

together  by  clamps  of  iron  and  lead.*  From  pier  to  pier  was 
stretched  a  platform  of  wood,  composed  of  cedar  and  cypress 
beams,  together  with  the  stems  of  palms,  each  platform  being 
thirty  feet  in  width. f  The  length  of  tne  bridge,  like  that  of 
the  tunnel,  was  a  thousand  yards. t 

We  have  now  to  consider  to  what  extent  these  variom 
constructions  may  be  regarded  as  the  work  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and  how  far  therefore  he  may  be  viewed  as  justified 
in  his  famous  boast.  First,  then,  we  have  it  distinctly  stated 
both  by  Berosus  §  and  by  himself,  ||  that  the  n«w  palace, 
which  adjoined  the  old,  was  completely  and  entirely  built 
by  him.  The  same  is  declared,  both  by  Berosus  IF  and  Aby- 
denus,  **  of  the  "  hanging  gardens."  The  former  of  these 
statements  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  bricks  of  the 
Kasr  are,  one  and  all  of  them,  stamped  with  his  name.  The 
old  palace  he  did  not  build  ;  but,  as  he  tells  us,  carefully  re- 
paired, ft  The  Yapur-Shapu,  was  also  an  ancient  con- 
struction ;  but  he  seems  to  have  excavated  it  afresh,  and  to 
have  executed  the  entire  lining  of  its  banks. Jt  With  respect 
to  the  great  Temple  of  Bel-Merodach,  if  we  may  believe  his 
own  account,  it  had  gone  completely  to  ruin  before  his  day, 
and  required  a  restoration  that  was  equivalent  to  a  rebuild- 
ing^ §  Here,  again,  we  have  the  confirmation  of  actual  fact, 
since  the  inscribed  bricks  from  the  Babil  mound  bear  in  every 
instance  the  name  and  titles  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Eight 
other  Babylonian  temples  are  also  declared  in  his  inscriptions 
to  have  been  built  or  rebuilt  by  him.  ||  ||  But  his  greatest  work 
was  the  reconstruction  of  the  walls.  We  have  seen  their  enor- 
mous length,  breadth,  and  thickness,  even  according  to  the 
lowest  estimates.  Nebuchadnezzar  found  them  dismantled 
and  decayed — probably  mere  lines  of  the  earthen  rampart, 
such  as  enclose  great  part  of  the  ruins  to-day.  Pie  gave 
them  the  dimensions  that  they  attained — dimensions  that 
made  them  one  of  the  world's  wonders.  It  is  this  which  is 
Ins  great  boast  in  his  standard  inscription :  "  Imgar-Bel 
.UK!  Ximiti-Bel,  the  great  double  wall  of  Babylon,  I  built. 
Butresses  for  the  embankment  of  its  ditch  I  completed.  Two 

*  Herod.,  i.  186.  t  Diod.,  Sic.,  ii.  8.  J  Ibid. 

§  Ap.  Joseph.,  "  Ant.  Jud.,  x.  11,  §  1. 

II  "Kecords  of  the  Past,''  vol.  v.,  pp.  130,  131. 

T  Berosus,  1.  s.  c.  **  Abydenus,  Fr.  9,  sub  fin, 

tt  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  in  the  author's  "Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  588. 

it  Ibid.,  p.  587. 

§§  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  p.  119.         III!  Ibid.,  pp.  122,  123 


58  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

long  embankments  with  cement  and  brick  I  made,  and  with 
the  embankment  which  my  father  had  made  I  joined  them. 
I  strengthened  the  city.  Across  the  river,  westward  I  built 
the  wall  of  Babylon  with  brick."  *  And  again,  "  The  walls 
of  the  fortress  of  Babylon,  its  defence  in  war,  I  raised  ;  and 
the  circuit  of  the  city  of  Babylon  I  have  strengthened  skil- 

fully."  t 

Nebuchadnezzar,  it  may  be  further  remarked,  did  not 
confine  his  constructive  efforts  to  Babylon.  Abydenus  tells 
us,  that,  besides  his  great  works  at  the  capital,  he  excavated 
two  large  canals,  the  Nahr-Agane  and  the  Nahr-Malcha  ;  J 
the  latter  of  which  is  known  from  later  writers  to  have  been 
a  broad  and  deep  channel  connecting  the  Tigris  with  the 
Euphrates.  He  also,  according  to  Abydenus,  dug  a  huge 
reservoir  near  Sippara  which  was  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles  in  circumference,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
deep,  furnishing  it  with  flood-gates,  through  which  the  Avater 
could  be  drawn  off  for  purposes  of  irrigation.  Abydenus 
adds,  that  he  built  quays  and  break-waters  along  the  shores 
of  the  Persian  Gulf,  aud  at  the  same  time  founded  the  city 
of  Tereclon,  on  the  sea  coast,  as  a  defence  against  the  incur- 
sion of  the  Arabs. 

The  inscribed  bricks  of  this  great  monarch  shows  a  still 
more  inexhaustible  activity.  They  indicate  him  as  the  com- 
plete restorer  of  the  temple  of  Nebo  at  Borsippa,  §  the  mighti- 
est of  all  the  ruins  in  Mesopotamia,  by  some  identified  with 
the  biblical  "  tower  of  Babel."  They  are  widely  spread 
over  the  entire  country,  occurring  at  Sippara,  at  Cutha,  at 
Kal-wadha  (Chilmad?^  :n  the  vicinity  of  Baghdad,  and  at 
scores  of  other  sites.  It  is  a  calculation  of  Sir  Henry  Rawlin- 
son's,  that  nine-tenths  of  the  bricks  brought  from  Mesopo- 
tamia are  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
son  of  Nabopolassar.  "  At  least  a  hundred  sites,"  says  the 
same  writer,  "  in  the  tract  immediately  about  Babylon,  give- 
evidence,  by  bricks  bearing  his  legend,  of  the  marvelous 
activity  and  energy  of  this  king."  || 

His  inscriptions  add,  that,  besides  the  great  temple  of 

•  Ibid.,  p.  125.  Compare  the  author's  "Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  587. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  v.,  pp.  183,  134. 

J  Abydenus,  1.  s.  c. 

t  Compare  his  inscription,  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vil,  pp. 
75-78. 

!j  "  Commentary  on  tin-  Inscriptions  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
p.  7b. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  59 

Nebo,  or  of  the  Seven  Spheres,  at  Borsippa,  he  built  there 
at  least  live  others,*  together  with  a  temple  to  the  Moon- 
god  at  Beth-Ziba,f  and  one  to  the  Sun-god  at  Larsa,  or  Sen- 
kareh.J  Altogether  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  was 
one  of  the  most  indefatigable  of  all  the  builders  that  have 
left  their  mark  upon  the  world  in  which  we  live.  He 
covered  Babylonia  with  great  works.  He  was  the  Augustus 
<•;'  Babylon.  He  found  it  a  perishing  city  of  unbaked  clay  ; 
he  left  it  one  of  durable  burnt  brick,  unless  it  had  been  for 
human  violence,  capable  of  continuing,  as  the  fragment  of 
the  Kasr  has  continued,  to  the  present  day. 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  p.  123. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  124.  J  Ibid.,  vol.  vil,  pp.  71,  72. 


60  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NOTICES    OF    BABYLON   IN   JEREMIAH    AND    EZEKIEL. 

THE  Books  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  contain  numerous 
allusions,  some  prophetic,  others  historic,  to  the  wars  in 
which  Nebuchadezzar  was  engaged,  or  was  to  be  engaged. 
A  certain  number  of  these  notices  refer  to  wars,  which  are  also 
mentioned  in  Chronicles  or  Kings,  and  which  have  conse- 
quently already  engaged  our  attention.*  But  others  touch 
upon  campaigns  which  Kings  and  Chronicles  ignore,  either 
on  account  of  their  lying  outside  the  geographic  range  of  the  ' 
writer's  vision,  or  from  their  being  subsequent  in  point  of 
time  to  the  event  which  they  view  as  constituting  the  close 
of  their  narratives.  The  campaigns  in  question  are  especi- 
ally those '  against  Tyre  and  Egypt,  which  are  touched  by 
both  writers,  but  most  emphatically  dwelt  iipon  by  Ezekiel. 

I.  The  war  against  Tyre.  Ezekiel's  description  of  this 
war  is  as  follows  : — 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold,  I  will  bring  upon  Tyrus  Ncbu- 
chadre/zar,  king  of  Babylon,  a  king  of  kings,  from  the  north  with 
horses  and  witli  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and  companies,  and 
much  people.  He  shall  slay  with  the  sword  thy  daughters  in  the  field ; 
and  he  shall  make  a  fort  against  thee,  and  cast  a  mount  against  thcc, 
and  lift  up  the  buckler  against  thee.  And  he  shall  set  engines  of  war 
against  thy  walls,  and  with  his  axes  he  shall  break  down  thy  towers. 
By  reason  of  the  abundance  of  his  horses,  their  dust  shall  cover  thee; 
thy  walls  shall  shake  at  the  noise  of  the  horsemen,  and  of  the  wheels, 
and  of  the  chariots,  when  he  shall  enter  into  thy  gates,  as  men  enter 
into  a  city  wherein  is  made  a  breach.  With  the  hoofs  of  his  horses 
shall  he  tread  down  all  thy  streets  :  he  shall  slay  thy  people  by  the 
sword,  and  thy  strong  garrisons  shall  go  down  to  the  ground.  And 
they  shall  make  a  spoil  of  thy  riches  and  make  a  prey  of  thy  men  linn - 
dise;  and  they  shall  break  down  thy  walls,  and  destroy  thy  pleasure 
houses;  and  they  shall  lay  thy  stones  and  thy  timber  and  thy  dust  in  the 
midst  of  the  water.  And  I  will  cause  the  noise  of  thy  songs  to  cease  ; 
and  the  sound  of  thy  harp  shall  be  no  more  heard.  And  I  will  make 

•S;e  above,  ch.  ill. 


NOTICES  IN  JEREMIAH  AND  EZEKIEL.  61 

thee  like  the  top  of  a  rock  ;  thou  shalt  be  a  place  to  spread  nets 
upon  ;  thou  shalt  be  built  no  more,  for  I,  the  Lord,  have  spoken  it, 
saith  the  Lord  God."— EZEK.  xxvi.  7-14. 

It  is  evident,  from  the  entire  character  of  the  descrip- 
tion, that  the  city  attacked  is — mainly,  at  any  rate — not  the 
island  Tyre,  but  the  ancient  upon  the  continent,  Palaityrus, 
as  the  Greeks  called  it,  which  occupied  a  position  directly 
opposite  to  the  island,  upon  the  sea-shore.  Nebuchadrezzar, 
as  he  is  correctly  named,*  fully  established  in  his  empire, 
not  merely  a  "  king  of  Babylon,"  but  a  "  king  of  kings," 
comes  with  such  an  army  as  Polyhistor  described  him  as 
bringing  against  Judaea,f  to  attack  the  Phoenician  town.  He 
brings  "  horses  and  chariots,  and  horsemen-  and  companies, 
and  much  people."  Polyhistor  gives  him,  on  the  former 
occasion,  ten  thousand  chariots,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  horsemen,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
footmen.  He  proceeds  to  invest  the  city  after  the  fashion 
commonly  adopted  br  the  Assyrian  monarchs,  and  inherited 
from  them  by  the  Babylonians.  Having  constructed  a  mov- 
able fort  or  tower,  such  as  we  see  in  the  Assyrian  bas-reliefs,t 
he  brings  it  against  the  walls,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
"raises  a  mount"  against  them,  from  which  to  work  his 
engines  and  shoot  his  arrows  with  the  better  effect. §  His 
men  "  lift  up  the  buckler,"  as  the  Assyrians  do  while  they 
mine  the  walls  or  fire  the  gates  ;  while  his  "  engines  "  ply 
their  strokes,  and -his  bravest  soldiers,  "with  axes,"  or  rather 
"swords" — often  used  by  the  Assyrians  for  the  purpose  || — 
seek  to  "break  down  the  towers."  His  efforts  are  successful, 
and  a  breach  is  made  ;  the  horsemen  and  chariots,  as  well  as 
the  footmen,  enter  the  town ;  there  is  the  r.sual  carnage  and 
plundering  that  accompany  the  storming  of  a  stronghold  ; 
and,  finally,  there  is  a  destruction  or  dismantling  of  the  place, 
more  or  less  complete. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  siege  and  capture  of  the  island 
city  obtain  no  distinct  mention.  Some  have  supposed  that 
it  was  not  taken ;  but  this  is  scarcely  compatible  with  the 
words  of  the  "  Lament  for  Tyre,"  or  with  the  "  isles  shak- 
ing at  the  sound  of  her  fall"  (Ezek.  xxvi.  15,  18).  Probably 
the  two  cities  were  so  bound  together  that  the  conquest  of 

•Nebuchadrezzar  exactly  corresponds  to  the  Nabu-kudurri-uzur 
of  the  inscriptions. 

t  Alex.  Polyhist.,  Fr.  34.      f  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  p.  274. 
§  Ibid.,  p.  275.  Ulbid. 


62  EGYPT  AND  BAB YL ON. 

the  one  involved  the  surrender  of  the  other,  and  Nebuchad. 
nezzar,  master  of  the  Old  Tyre,  experienced  no  resistance 
from  the  New. 

The  annalists  of  Tyre,  though  little  disposed  to  dwell 
upon  a  passpge  of  history  so  painful  to  patriotic  men,  were 
forced  to  admit  the  fact  of  the  siege  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
even  to  give  some  account  of  it.  They  stated  that  it  took 
place  in  the  reign  of  a  certain  Ithobalus  (Eth-Baal),  and  that 
the  Tyrians  offered  a  resistance  almost  without  a  parallel. 
They  were  besieged  continuously  for  thirteen  years.  *  The 
brief  extracts  from  their  works,  which  are  all  that  we  possess 
of  them,  do  not  say  whether  the  siege  was  successful  or  the 
contrary ;  but  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  the  great 
monarch  would  have  allowed  his  efforts  to  be  baffled,  and  it 
is  certain  that  he  carried  a  large  number  of  Phoenician 
captives  to  Babylonia,  whom  he  settled  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  f 

The  fact  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  siege  of  Tyre  having  lasted 
thirteen  years,  throws  considerable  light  on  another  passage 
of  Ezekiel.  In  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  the  captivity  of 
Jehoiachin  (B.  c.  573),  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Ezekiel, 
saying  :— 

"  Son  of  man,  Nebuchadrezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  caused  his  army 
to  serve  a  great  service  against  Tyrus  ;  every  head  wan  made  ba(d, 
and  every  shoulder  was  peeled ;  yet  had  he  no  wages,  nor  his  army, 
for  Tyrus,  for  the  service  he  had  served  against  it.  Therefore  thus 
saitli  the  Lord  God  :  Behold,  I  will  give  the  land  of  Egypt  unto 
Nebuchadrezzar,  king  of  Babylon;  and  he  shall  take  her  multitude, 
and  take  her  spoil,  and  take  her  prey;  and  it  shall  be  the  wages  for 
his  army.  I  have  given  him  the  land  of  Egypt  for  his  labor  where- 
with lie  served  against  it,  because  they  wrought  for  Me,  saith  the 
Lord  God."— EZEK.  xxix.  18-20. 

The  extraordinary  length  of  the  siege,  in  which  men  grew 
old  and  wore  themselves  out,  explains  the  phrase, — "Every 
head  was  made  bald,  and  every  shoulder  was  peeled  ;  "  and 
at  the  same  time  accounts  for  the  fact  that  Nebuchadncxzar 
was  considered  to  have  received  no  wages,  £.«.,  no  sufficient 
wages,  for  his  service,  which  had  been  very  inadequately 
repaid  by  the  plunder  found  in  the  exhausted  city. 

*  Menand.  Ephes.  ap.  Joseph.  Contr.  Ap.  i.  21;  Philostrat.  ap 
Joseph.  Ant.  Jnd.,  \.  11.  §  1. 

t  Berosus.  ap.  Joseph.,  Ant.  Jud.,  1.  s.  c. 


NOTICES  IX  JEREMIAH  AND  KZKKIEL.  63 

II.  A  great  campaign  in  Egypt.  In  the  year  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Jeremiah  prophesied  as  follows  : — 

"  Then  came  the  Word  of  the  Lord  unto  Jeremiah  in  Tahpanhes. 
saying.  Take  great  stones  in  thine  hand,  and  hide  them  in  the  clay  in 
1  he  hriek-kihi.  which  is  at  the  entry  of  Pharaoh's  house  in  Tahpanhes, 
in  the  sight  of  the  men  of  .Tuclah;  and  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel:  Behold,  I  will  send  and  take  Nebu- 
chadrezzar the  king  of  Babylon,  my  servant,  and  will  set  his  throne 
upon  these  stones  that  I  have  hid,  and  he  shall  spread  his  royal  pavil- 
ion over  them.  And  when  he  cometh,  he  shall  smite  the  land  of 
Kii.vpt,  and  deliver  such  as  are  for  death  to  death;  and  such  as  are  for 
captivity  to  captivity;  and  such  as  are  for  the  sword  to  the  sword. 
And  1  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  houses  of  the  gods  of  Egypt,  and  he 
shall  burn  them,  and  carry  them  away  captives:  and  he  shall  array 
himself  with  the  land  of  Egypt,  as  a  shepherd  putteth  on  his  garment; 
and  he  shall  go  forth  from  thence  in  peace.  He  shall  break  also  the 
images  of  Beth-shemesh,  that  is  in  the  land  of  Egypt;  and  the  houses 
of  the  gods  of  the  Egyptians  shall  he  burn  with  fire."— JEK.  xliii.  8-13. 

Some  time  afterwards  he  delivered  another  prophecy 
(xlvi.  13-26)  equally  explicit,  in  which  Migdol,  Xoph 
(Memphis),  Tahpanhes  (Daphnae),  and  Xo-Ammon  (Thebes) 
were  threatened  ;  and  the  delivery  of  the  entire  country  and 
people  into  the  hand  of  Xebuchadrezzar,  king  of  Babylon, 
ami  into  the  hand  of  his  servants,  was  foretold. 

Ezekiel  delivered  seven  prophecies  against  Egypt,  all  of 
them  having  more  or  less  reference  to  Babylon  as  the  power 
which  was  to  bring  ruin  upon  the  country,  and  two  of  them 
mentioning  Nebuchadrezzar  by  name,  as  the  monarch  who 
was  to  inflict  the  chastisement  (Ezek.  xxix.  18,  19;  xxx.  10). 
These  prophecies  arc  too  long  to  quote  in  full.  They  are 
chiefly  remarkable  as  declaring  the  complete  desolation  of 
Egypt,  and  as  fixing  a  term  of  years  during  which  her 
degradation  should  continue.  In  chap.  xxx.  we  find  among 
the  places  which  arc  to  suffer,  Sin  or  Pelusium,  Zoan  or 
Tanis,  On  or  Heliopolis,  Xoph  or  Memphis,  Tahpanhes  or 
Daphne,  Pibcseth  or  Bubastis,  and  Xo-Ammon  or  Thebes. 
In  chap.  xxix.  an  even  wider  area  is  included.  There  we 
are  told  that  the  land  of  Egypt  was  to  be  "  utterly  waste 
and  desolate  from  Migdol  to  Syene,*  even  unto  the  border 
of  Ethiopia"  (ver.  10).  The  time  of  Egypt's  affliction  is  fixed 
at  "forty  years"  (vers.  11-13),  after  which  it  is  to  recover, 

*  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  proper  rendering.  "  From  the 
tower  of  Syene  even  unto  the  border  of  Ethiopia  "  would  have  no 
•leaning,  since  Syene  bordered  on  Ethiopia. 


64  EG YP T  AND  BAB YL ON. 

but  to  be  a  "  base  kingdom,  "  "  the  basest  of  the  kingdoms  " 
(ver.  15),  no  more  "  exalted  above  the  nations,"  no  more  a 
ruler  over  nations  external  to  itself. 

By  the  date  of  one  of  Ezekiel's  prophecies  (chap.  xxix. 
17-20),  which  is  B.  c.  573,  it  is  evident  that  the  great  invasion 
prophesied  had  not  then  taken  place,  but  was  still  impending. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  attack  must  consequently  be  looked  for 
towards  the  latter  part  of  his  long  reign,  which  terminated 
in  B.  c.  562,  according  to  the  Canon  of  Ptolemy. 

Until  recently  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  adduce 
any  historical  confirmation,  or  indeed  illustration,  of  these 
prophecies.  They  were  quoted  by  sceptical  writers  as  proph- 
ecies that  had  been  imfulfilled.  Herodotus,  it  was  remarked, 
knew  nothing  of  any  invasion  of  Egypt  by  the  Asiatics  dur- 
ing the  reigns  of  either  Apries  or  Amasis,  with  whom  Nebu- 
chadnezzar was  contemporary,  much  less  of  any  complete 
devastation  of  the  entire  territory  by  them.  It  was  true  that 
Josephus,  anxious  to  save  the  reputation  of  his  sacred  books, 
spoke  of  an  invasion  of  Egypt  by  Nebuchadnezzar  later  than 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  even  made  him  kill  one 
king  and  set  up  another.  *  But  he  placed  these  events  in 
the  fifth  year  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  that  is  in  B.  c.  581, 
whereas  Ezekiel's  date,  in  his  twenty-ninth  chapter,  showed 
that  they  had  not  happened  by  B.  c.  573.  Moreover,  he  con- 
tradicted Egyptian  history,  which  gave  no  change  of  sove- 
reign till  ten  years  after  the  time  mentioned,  or  B.  c.  571. 

It  was  difficult  to  meet  these  objectors  formerly.  Within 
the  last  few  years,  however,  light  has  been  thrown  on  the 
subject  from  two  inscriptions — one  Egyptian,  which  had 
been  long  known,  but  not  rightly  understood ;  the  other 
Babylonian,  which  was  not  discovered  till  1878.  The  Egyp- 
tian inscription  is  on  a  statue  in  the  Louvre,  which  was 
originally  set  up  at  Elephantine  by  a  certain  Nes-Hor,  an 
official  of  high  rank  whom  Apries,  the  Egyptian  monarch 
called  in  Scripture  "  Pharaoh-IIophra,"  had  made  "  Governor 
off  the  south."  This  officer,  according  to  the  latest  and 
best  interpretation  of  his  inscription,  f  writes  as  follows  : — 
"  I  have  caused  to  be  made  ready  my  statue ;  my  name  will 
be  perpetuated  by  means  of  it ;  it  will  not  perish  in  this 
temple,  inasmuch  as  I  took  care  of  the  house,  when  it  was 

•  "  Ant.  Jud."  x.  9,  §  7. 

t  See  Dr.  Wiedemann's  paper  in  the  "Zeitschrift  fur  -(Egypt 
Sprache  "  for  1878,  p.  4. 


NOTICES  IN  JEREMIAH  J\.ND  EZEKIEL.  65 

injured  by  the  foreign  hordes  of  the  Syrians,  the  people  of 
the  north,  the  Asiatics,  and  the  profane  [who  intended  evil] 
in  their  heart ;  for  it  lay  in  their  heart  to  rise  up,  to  bring 
into  subjection  the  upper  country.  But  the  fear  of  thy 
majesty  was  upon  them ;  they  gave  up  what  their  heart  had 
planned.  I  did  not  let  them  advance  to  Konosso,  but  I  let 
them  approach  the  place  v^here  the  majesty  was.  Then  thy 
majesty  made  an  [expedition]  against  them." 

It  results  from  this  inscription,  that,  while  Apries  was 
still  upon  the  throne,  there  was  an  invasion  of  Egypt  from 
the  north.  A  host  of  Asiatics,  whom  the  writer  calls  amu, 
i.e.  Syrians,  or,  at  any  rate,  Semites  from  the  direction  of 
Syria,  poured  into  the  country,  and,  carrying  all  before  them, 
advanced  up  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  threatening  the  subjection 
of  the  ;'  upper  country."  Memphis  and  Thebes  must  have 
fallen,  since  the  invaders  reached  Elephantin6.  Apparently 
they  were  bent  on  subduing,  not  only  Egypt,  but  Ethiopia. 
But  Nes-Hor  checked  their  advance,  he  prevented  them  from 
proceeding  further,  he  even  forced  them  to  fall  back  towards 
the  north,  and  brought  them  into  contact  with  an  army 
which  Apries  had  collected  against  them.  The  result  of  the 
contact  is  not  mentioned  ;  but  the  invaders  must  have  re- 
tired, since  Nes-Hor  is  able  to  embellish  and  repair  the  great 
temple  of  Kneph,  which  they  have  injured,  and  to  set  up 
his  statue  in  it. 

The  other  inscription  is,  unfortunately,  very  fragmentary. 
The  tablet  on  which  it  was  written  was  of  small  size,  and 
allowed  space  for  only  thirty — not  very  long — lines.  All 
the  lines  are  more  or  less  mutilated.  Of  the  first  and  sec- 
ond one  word  only  remains  ;  of  the  twenty-fifth  and  twenty- 
eighth,  only  one  letter.  The  twenty-ninth  is  wholly  obliter- 
ated. The  termination  alone  remains  of  the  last  seven.  Some 
lacunae  occur  in  all  the  others.  Still,  the  general  purport  is 
plain.  Nebuchadnezzar  addresses  Merodach,  and  says, — 
"My  enemies  thou  usedst  to  destroy;  thou  causedst  my 
heart  to  rejoice  ...  in  those  days  thou  raadest  my  hands  to 
capture ;  thou  gavest  me  rest ;  .  .  .  thou  causedst  me  to  con- 
struct ;  my  kingdom  thou  madest  to  increase.  .  .  .  Over  them 
kings  thou  exaltedst ;  his  warriors,  his  princes,  his  paths, 
like  ...  he  made  ...  to  his  army  he  trusted  .  .  .  he  hastened 
before  the  great  gods.  [In  the]  thirty-seventh  year  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  the  country  [of  Babylon,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar] to  Egypt  to  make  war  went.  [His  army  Ama]sis, 


66  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

king  of  Egypt,  collected,  and  .  .  .  [his  soldiers]  went,  thej 
spread  abroad.  As  for  me  (?)....  a  remote  district,  which 
is  in  the  middle  of  the  sea  ....  many  .  .  .  from  the  midst  of 
the  country  of  Egypt  ....  soldiers,  horses,  and  chariots  (?) 
.  .  .  for  his  help  lie  assembled  and  ...  he  looked  before  him 
....  to  his  [army]  he  trusted  and  .  .  .  iixed  a  command."  * 

Nebuchadnezzar,  evidently,  in  this  inscription,  speaks  of 
an  expedition  which  he  personally* conducted  into  Egypt,  as 
late  as  his  thirty-seventh  year,  which  was  j*.  c.  568,  five  years 
later  than  the  d'ate  of  Ezekiel's  dated  prophecy.  The  king, 
however,  against  whom  he  made  war,  was  not  Apries,  whose 
name  in  Egyptian  was  Ua-ap-ra,  but  apparently  Amasis,  his 
successor,  since  it  ended  in  -su,  probably  in  -asu.^  This  may 
seem  to  be  an  objection  against  referring  the  two  inscriptions 
to  the  same  events,  since  Apries  was  still  king  when  that  of 
Nes-Hor  was  set  up.  But  a  reference  to  Egyptian  history 
removes  this  difficulty.  Amasis,  it  appears,  ascended  the 
throne  in  B.C.  571;  but  Apries  did  not  die  until  n.  c.  565. 
"For  six  years  the  two  monarchs  inhabited  the  same  palace 
at  Sais,t  and  both  bore  the  royal  title.  An  Egyptian  monu- 
ment distinctly  recognizes  the  double  reign  ;  §  the  expedi- 
tion of  Nebuchadnezzar,  being  in  «.  c.  568,  exactly  falls  into 
this  interval.  It  was  natural  that  Nebuchadnezzar  should 
mention  the  active  young  king,  who  had  the  real  power,  and 
was  his  actual  antagonist ;  it  was  equally  natural  that  Nes- 
Hor,  an  old  employe  under  Apries,  should  ignore  the  upstart, 
and  seek  to  do  honor  to  his  old  master. 

Other  wars  of  Nebuchadnezzar  are  thought  to  be  glanced 
at  in  Scripture,  as  one  with  Elam,||  to  which  there  may  be 
allusion  in  Jer.  xlix.  35-38,  and  Ezek.  xxxii.  24;  one  with 
the  Moabites,  perhaps  in  Ezek.  xxv.  8-11;  and  one  with 
Anunon,  touched  upon  in  Ezek.  xxi.  20,  28-32,  and  xxv.  4-7. 
Josephus  relates  it  as  a  historical  fact,  that  he  reduced  both 
the  Moabites  and  the  Ammonites  to  subjection  ;  H"  and  there 
are  some  grounds  for  thinking  that  he  also  made  himself 
master  of  Elam ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  these  events  r.re 
either  confirmed  or  illustrated  by  profane  writers,  who  inako 

•  "  Transactions  of  Soc.  of  Bihl.  Arch.,  vol.  vii.,  pp.  218-222. 
t  See  the  inscription  in  the  "  Transactions  of  Bibl.  Arch.  Soc.," 
vol.  vii.,  p.  2_M,  reverse,  line  1. 
\  IInro.1..  ii.  1  <.'.». 

$  Champollion,  "  Monuments  de  I'Esypte,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  443,  No.  1. 
II  (I.  Smith.  '•  History  of  Babylonia."  pp.  157,  158. 
1  Joseph.,  "  Ant.  Jnd.,"  x.  0,  §  7. 


IX  JFAtEMIAH  AND  EZEKIEL.  67 

no  distinct  mention  of  any  of  his  wars,  except  those  with  the 
.lews,  the  Phoenicians,  and  the  Egyptians. 

It  was,  however,  widely  recognized  in  antiquity  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  was  a  great  general.  His  exploits*  were 
enormously  exaggerated,  since  he  was  believed  by  some  *  to 
have  conquered  all  North  Africa  and  Spain,  as  well  as  the 
country  between  Armenia  and  the  Caspian.  But  there  was 
a  basis  of  truth  underlying  the  exaggerations.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, at  a  comparatively,  early  age,  defeated  Pharaoh- 
Nccho  at  the  great  battle  of  Carchemish,  conquered  Coele- 
syria,  and  reduced  Juda?a  to  vassalage.  Somewhat  later  he 
engaged  in  the  difficult  enterprise  of  capturing  Tyre,  and  ex- 
hibited a  rare  spirit  of  persistence  and  perseverance  in  his 
long  siege  of  that  town.  Ifis  capture  of  Jerusalem,  after  a 
siege  of  eighteen  months  ('1  Kings  xxv.  1-4),  was  creditable 
to  him,  since  Samaria,  a  place  of  far  less  strength,  was  not 
taken  by  the  Assyrians  until  it  had  been  besieged  for  three 
years  ('1  Kings  xvii.  5).  The  reduction  of  Elam,  if  we  may 
ascribe  it  to  him,  redounds  still  more  to  his  honor,  since  the 
Islamites  were  a  numerous  and  powerful  nation,  which  had 
eonuMided  on  almost  even  terms  with  the  Assyrians  from  the 
tinif  of  Sargon  to  the  close  of  the  empire.  The  judgment 
of  a  good  general  was  shown  in  the  subjugation  of  Moaband 
Ammon,  for  it  is  essential  to  the  security  of  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine that  the  tribes  occupying  the  skirt  of  the  great  eastern 
desert  shall  be  controled  and  their  ravages  prevented.  In 
Egypt  Nebuchadnezzar  probably  met  his  most  powerful  ad- 
versary, since  under  the  rule  of  the  Psammeticlii  Egypt  had 
recovered  almost  her  pristine  vigor.  Thus  in  this  quarter 
the  struggle  for  supremacy  was  severe  and  greatly  prolonged. 
He  contended  with  three  successive  Egyptian  kings — Necho, 
Apries  or  Ilophra,  and  Amasis.  From  Necho  he  took  the 
whole  tract  between  Carchemish  and  the  Egyptian  frontier. 
Apries  feared  to  meet  him,  and,  after  a  futile  demonstration, 
gave  up  the  interference  which  he  had  meditated  (Jer. 
xxxvii.  7).  Amasis,  who  had  perhaps  provoked  him  by  his 
expedition  against  Cyprus,!  which  Nebuchadnezzar  would 
naturally  regard  as  his,  he  signally  punished  by  ravaging  his 
whole  territory,  injuring  the  temples,  destroying  or  carrying 
off  the  images  of  the  gods,  and  making  prisoners  of  many  of 
the  inhabitants.  It  is  possible  that  he  did  more  than  this. 

*  As  Megastbencs  and  Abydeuus.  t  Herod,  ii.  182. 


68  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Egypt's  degradation  was  to  last  for  a  long  term  of  years.* 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  Amasis  became  the  vassal  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and  his  peaceful  reign,  and  the  material  pros- 
perity of  his  country,!  were  the  result  of  a  compact  by  which 
he  acknowledged  the  suzerainty  of  Babylon,  and  bowed  his 
head  to  a  foreign  yoke. 

*" Forty  years"  (Ezek.  xxix.  11-13);  but  "forty  years,"  in  pro* 
phetic  language,  is  not  to  be  taken  literally, 
t  Herod.,  ii.f  177.  . 


NOTICES  IN  EZEKIEL.  69 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  EZEKIEL. 
"  A  land  of  traffick  ...  a  city  of  merchants." — EZEK.  xvii,  4. 

THIS  allusion  to  the  commercial  character  of  Babylon 
does  not  stand  alone  and  unsupported  in  Scripture.  Isaiah 
speaks  of  the  Babylonian  "  merchants  "  (Isa.  xlvii.  15).  and 
describes  the  Chaldaeans  as  persons  "  whose  cry  is  in  their 
ships"  (chap,  xliii.  14).  Ezekiel  mentions  Canneh  (Calneh), 
and  Chilmad,  Babylonian  towns,  among  the-  places  that 
carried  on  commercial  dealings  with  Tyre  (Ezek.  xxvii.  23. 
In  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  Babylon  is  made 
the  type  of  a  city,  which  is  represented  as  eminently  com- 
mercial, as  dealing  in  the  "  merchandise  of  gold,  and  silver, 
and  precious  stones,  and  of  pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and  purple, 
and  silk,  and  scarlet,  and  all  thyine  wood,  and  all  manner 
vessels  of  ivory,  and  all  manner  vessels  of  most  precious 
wood,  and  of  brass,  and  iron,  and  marble,  and  cinnamon,  and 
odors,  and  ointments,  and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and  oil, 
and  fine  flour,  and  wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and  horses, 
and  chariots,  and  slaves,  and  the  souls  of  men  "  (Rev.  xviii. 
12,  13). 

The  object  of  the  present  chapter  will  be  to  show  that 
the  notices  of  Babylon  in  profane  writers  and  in  the  in- 
scriptions fully  bear  out  the  character  thus  assigned  to  her, 
showing  that  she  was  the  centre  of  an  enormous  land  and 
sea  commerce,  which  must  have  given  occupation  to  thou- 
sands of  merchants,  and  have  necessitated  the  employment 
of  numerous  ships. 

Nothing  is  more  evident  in  the  Babylonian  inscriptions, 
and  also  in  those  of  Assyria  which  treat  of  Babylonian  af- 
fairs, than  the  large  amount  of  curious  woods,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  alabaster  and  other  stone,  which  was  employed  in 
the  great  constructions  of  the  Babylonians,  and  which  must 
necessarily  have  been  imported  from  foreign  countries. 


70  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Babylonia  being  entirely  alluvial  is  wholly  destitute  of  stone 
and  the  only  trees  of  any  size  that  it  produces  are  the  cypress 
and  the  palm.*  •  We  find  the  Babylonian  raonarchs  employ- 
ing in  their  temples  and  palaces  abundant  pine  and  cedar 
trees,  together  with  many  other  kinds  of  wood,  which  it  is 
impossible  to  identify.  Mention  is  made  of  "  J2abil-wood," 
"  iimritganctr-wood"  "ummafcana-wood"  "  n'-wood,"  "  ikki- 
wood,"  "  swmcm-wood,"  "  awwAw-wood,"  "  musritkanna- 
wood,"  and  "  mesukcm-vrood."  f  Modern  exploration  has 
shown  that  among  the  building  materials  employed  was 
teak,|  but  whether  any  one  of  these  obscure  names  desig- 
nates that  species  of  timber  is  uncertain.  What  seems  plain 
is  that  all  these  woods  must  have  been  imported.  The  teak 
must  have  come  either  from  India,  or  possibly  from  one 
«f  the  islands  in  the  Persian  Gulf  ;  §  thei-e  is  evidence  that 
the  cedars  and  pines,  together  with  the  Babil-wood,  were 
imported  from  Syria,  being  furnished  by  the  forests  that 
clothed  the  sides  of  Mounts  Libanus  and  Amanus  ;  ||  there 
is  no  evidence  with  respect  to  the  remainder,  but  they  may 
have  been  derived  from  either  Armenia,  Assyria,  or  Susi- 
ana. 

Among  the  kinds  of  stone  commonly  used  in  building 
which  must  necessarily  have  been  imported,  were  "  alabaster 
blocks,"  "  zamat  stone,"  "  durmina-turda  and  kamina-turda 
stone,  zamat-hati  stone,  and  lapis  lazuli."  *[[  Xenophon 
speaks  of  the  importation  of  "  millstones  "  in  his  own  day  ;  ** 
and,  as  Babylonia  could  not  furnish  them,  they  must  always 
have  come  in  from  without.  Sandstone  and  basalt,  which 
are  found  in  some  of  the  ruins,  could  have  been  obtained  from 
the  adjacent  parts  of  Arabia;  but  the  alabaster,  which  has 
been  also  found,  and  the  lapis  lazuli,  which  was  especially 
nlTccted  for  adornment,  must  have  been  brought  from  a 
greater  distance. 

Stones  of  the  rarer  and  more  precious  kinds  were  also 
imported,  to  serve  either  as  seals  or.  as  ornaments 


•  See  the  author's  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  Hi.,  pp.  220-221. 
"  Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  v.,  pp.  117-133;  vol.  vii.,  p.  75. 

J  "  Journal  of  the  R.  Asiat.  Society,"  vol.  xv.  ,  p.  204. 

§  As  ITeeren  thinks,  on  the  strength  of  a  passage  of  Theophrastus 
("As.  Nat.,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  258,  25fl). 

1  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  p.  119;  vol.  ix.,  p.  10;  "Trans- 
actions of  Bibl.  Arch.  Society,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  154. 

f  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,pp.  121,  125-127;  vof  vii.,  p.  76,  etc, 

»*Xen.,  "Anab.,"  i.  5,  §  5. 


NOTICES  IN  EZEKIEL.  il 

of  the  person.  Herodotus  tells  us  that  "  every  Babylonian 
carried  a  seal ;  "  *  and  the  remains  tend  to  confirm  his  testi- 
mony, since  Babylonian  seals,  either  in  the  shape  of  signet 
rings  or  of  cylinders,  exist  by  thousands  in  European  mu- 
seums, and  are  still  found  in  large  numbers  by  explorers. 
They  are  chiefly  made  of  onyx,  jasper,  serpentine,  meteoric 
stone,  lapis  lazuli,  and  chalcedony,  all  substances  that  must 
have  been  introduced  from  abroad,  since  no  one  of  them  is 
produced  by  Babylonia. 

Babylonia  must  also  have  imported  or  else  carried  off 
from  foreign  countries,  the  whole  of  its  metals.  Neither 
gold,  nor  silver,  nor  copper,  nor  tin,  nor  lead,  nor  iron  are 
among  the  gifts  which  Nature  has  vouchsafed  to  the  south- 
ern Mesopotamiaii  region.  No  doubt  her  military  successes 
enabled  her  to  obtain  from  foreign  lands,  not  by  exchange 
but  by  plunder,  considerable  supplies  of  these  commodities ; 
but  besides  this  accidental  and  irregular  mode  of  acquisition, 
there  must  have  been  some  normal  and  unceasing  source  of 
supply,  to  prevent  disastrous  fluctuations,  and  secure  a  due 
provision  for  the  constant  needs  of  the  country.  Every  im- 
plement used  in  agriculture  or  in  the  mechanical  trades  had 
to  be  made  of  bronze,  f  the  materials  of  which  came  from 
afar ;  copper  perhaps  from  Armenia,  which  still  produces  it 
largely,  tin  from  Further  India,  or  from  Cornwall,  through 
the  medium  of  the  Phoenicians.}:  Every  weapon  of  war  had 
to  be  supplied  similarly ;  all  the  gold  and  silver  lavished  on 
the  doors  and  walls  of  temples,  §  on  images  of  the  gods  or 
the  dresses  in  which  the  images  were  clothed,  |j  on  temple 
tables,  altars,  or  couches,  IF  on  palace  walls  and  roofs,  **  on 
thrones,  sceptres,  parasols,  chariots,  and  the  like,  ft  °r  on 
bracelets,  armlets,  and  other  articles  of  personal  adornment, 
had  to  be  procured  from  some  foreign  land  and  to  be  con- 
veyed hundred  or  thousands  of  miles  before  the  Babylonians 
could  make  use  of  them. 

Another  whole  class  of  commodities  which  the  Babylo- 
nians are  believed  to  have  obtained  from  foreign  countries 

*  Herod.,  i.  195. 

t  Iron  was  not  absolutely  unknown  in  ancient  Babylonia;  but  al- 
most all  the  weapons  and  implements  found  are  of  bronze, 
t  Heroh..  iii.  115. 

§  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v..  pp.  117-120;  vol.  vii.,  p.  75. 
i  Ibid.,  vol. 'vii..  pp.  5,  0.      II  Herod.,  i.  181, 183;  Diod.  Sic.  li.  9. 
*»  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  pp.  131,  I'M. 
ft  Ibid,  vol.  ix.,  p.  15. 


72  EG  YP  T  AND  BAB  YL  ON. 

comprises  the  raw  materials  for  their  clothes,  and  for  the 
greater  part  of  their  fabrics.*  Babylonia  was  not  a  country 
suitable  for  the  rearing  of  sheep,  and,  if  it  produced  wool  at 
all,  produced  it  only  in  small  quantities ;  yet  the  Babylonian 
wore  ordinarily  two  woolen  garments,!  and  some  of  their 
most  famous  fabrics  were  of  the  same  material.  Their  other 
clothes  were  either  linen  or  cotton  ;  but,  so  far  as  is  known, 
neither  flax  nor  the  cotton  plant  was  cultivated  by  them. 

Spices  constituted  another  class  of  imports.  In  theii 
religious  ceremonies  the  Babylonians  consumed  frankincense^ 
on  an  enormous  scale  ;  and  they  employed  it  likewise  in 
purifications^  They  also  used  aromatic  reeds  in  their  sacri- 
fices, ||  as  did  the  Jews  who  were  brought  into  contact  with 
them. IT  Whether  they  imported  cinnamon  from  Ceylon  or 
India,**  may  perhaps  be  doubted  ;  but  the  spices  of  Arabia 
were  certainly  in  request,  and  formed  the  material  of  a 
regular  traffic. ft 

All  the  wine  consumed  in  Babylonia  was  imported  from 
abroad.  Babylonia  was  too  hot,  and  probably  also  too  moist, 
for  the  vine,  which  was  not  cultivated  in  any  part  of  the 
country.  J$  A  sort  of  spirit  was  distilled  from  dates,  which 
the  Greeks  called  "  palm-wine,"§§  and  this  was  drunk  by  the 
common  people.  But  the  wealthier  classes  could  be  content 
with  nothing  less  than  the  juice  of  the  grape ;  ||  ||  and  hence 
there  was  a  continuous  importation  of  real  wine  into  the 
country,  1T1T  where  there  prevailed  a  general  luxuriousness  of 
living.  The  trade  must  consequently  have  been  considerable, 
and  is  not  likely  to  have  been  confined  to  a  single  channel. 
There  were  several  vine-growing  countries  not  very  remote 
from  Babylon  ;  and  a  brisk  commerce  was  in  all  probability 
carried  on  with  most  of  them. 

Among  other  probable  imports  maybe  mentioned  ivory 
and  c'bony,  for  the  construction  of  rich  furniture,  pearls  for 
personal  adornment,  rare  woods  for  walking-sticks,  dyes, 
Indian  shawls,  musical  instruments,  Phoenician  asses,  Indian 
dogs,  and  Persian  greyhounds. 

Ivory  and   ebony   which  were  brought  to  Solomon  as 

*  Heeren,  "  Asiatic  Nations,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  199.          t  Herod.,  i.  195. 

t  Herod.,  i.  183.  §  Ibid.,  i.  198. 

||  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  140.  IF  Jer.  vi.  20, 

**  As  Heeren  supposes  ("As.  Nat.,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  240). 
tt  Strabo,  xvi.  1110.  J|  Herod.,  i.  193.  §§  Ibid. 

till  Dan.  i.  5;  v.  1.  Iffl  Herod.,  i.  194. 


NOTICES  IN  BABYLON.  73 

early  as  B.  c.  1000  (1  Kings  x.  22),  and  which  Tyre  im- 
ported from  Dedan,  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  in  the  time  of 
Ezekiel  (Ezek.  xxvii.  15),  can  scarcely  have  been  unknown 
to  the  Babylonians,  through  whose  territory  the  Phosnician 
trade  with  Dedan  must  have  passed.  Pearls,  which  were 
worn  by  the  Assyrians,*  and  supplied  to  Western  Asia 
generally  from  the  famous  fisheries  of  Bahrien  and  Karrak, 
in  the  Persian  Gulf,f  were  doubtless  as  much  appreciated  by 
the  Babylonians  as  by  other  Asiatics ;  and  the  pearl  mer- 
chants can  scarcely  have  been  permitted  to  carry  their  pre- 
cious wares  into  the  interior  without  leaving  a  fair  share  of 
them  to  the  country  whereto  they  must  have  brought  them 
first  of  all.  Rare  wood  for  walking-sticks  is  mentioned  as 
grown  in  Tylos,t  another  island  in  the  Gulf,  and  would 
naturally  be  transported  to  the  neighboring  country,  where 
walking-sticks  were  in  universal  use.§  The  dyes  which  gave 
to  Babylonian  fabrics  their  brilliant  hues  came  probably  from 
India  or  Kashmir,  and  were  furnished  by  the  Indian  lava  or 
the  cochineal  insect. ||  With  their  dyes  the  Indians  would 
probably  send  their  shawls,  an  early  product  of  Hindoo  in- 
dustry, and  one  from  time  immemorial  highly  valued  in  the 
East. IT  The  importation  of  musical  instruments  may  be 
regarded  as  proved,  if  we  allow  any  of  the  names  used  in 
Daniel  to  be  derived  from  the  Greek,  since  the  Greek  name 
could  only  reach  Babylon  together  with  the  instrument  where- 
to it  belonged.  Phoenician  asses  are  expressly  mentioned, 
as  sold  by  one  Babylonian  to  another,  on  one  of  the  black 
contract  stones  found  at  Babylon,**  as  are  "greyhounds  from 
the  East,"  which  were  most  probably  Persian.  A  large  dog, 
most  likely  an  Indian  hound,  is  represented  on  a  tablet 
brought  by  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  from  the  same  site,tf  and  the 
representation  is  a  fairly  good  proof  of  the  importation  of 
the  animal  portrayed. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  country  to  import  largely  unless  it 
also  exports  largely,  either  its  own  products  or  those  of  other 
regions.  In  the  long  run  exports  and  imports  must  balance 
each  other.  Babylonia  seems  to  have  exported  chiefly  its 
own  manufactures.  Large  weaving  establishments  existed 

•  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  322 
t  Heeren.  "As.  Nat.,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  235-237. 
}  Theophrast.,  "  Hist.  Plant.,"  v.  6.  §  Herod.,  i.  195. 

II  See  Heeren,  p.  200. 

1  See  Heeren,  p.  209.    **  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.,  p.  105. 
tt  See  the  author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  i.  p.  314. 


74  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

in  various  parts  of  the  country  ;*  and  fabrics  issued  from  the 
Babylonian  looms  which  were  highly  esteemed  by  foreign 
nations.  The  texture  was  exquisite  ;  the  dyes  were  of  re- 
markable brilliancy ;  and  the  workmanship  was  superior. 
The  "  Babylonish  garment "  found  among  the  spoils  of  Jericho 
when  the  Israelites  entered  the  Holy  Land,  and  coveted  by 
Achan,|  is  an  evidence  at  once  of  the  high  esteem  in  which 
such  fabrics  were  held,  and  of  the  distance  to  which,  even 
thus  early,  they  had  been  exported.  Fringed  and  striped 
robes  of  seemingly  delicate  material  appear  on  Babylonian 
cylinders  |  as  early  as  the  Proto-Chaldasan  period,  or  before 
B.  c.  2000.  We  cannot  fix  their  material ;  but  perhaps  they 
were  of  the  class  called  "  sindones,"  which  appear  to  have 
been  muslins  of  extreme  fineness,  and  of  brilliant  hues,  and 
which  in  later  times  were  set  apart  for  royal  use.§ 

The  carpets  of  Babylon  acquired  a  peculiar  reputation.  || 
Carpets  are  one  of  the  principal  objects  of  luxury  in  the 
East,  where  not  only  are  the  floors  of  the  reception-rooms  in 
all  houses  of  a  superior  class  covered  with  them,  but  they 
even  form  the  coverlets  of  beds,  couches,  divans,  and  sofas, 
and  are  thus  the  main  decoration  of  apartments.  The  car- 
pets of  Babylon  were  made  of  fine  wool,  skilfully  woven, 
exquisite  in  their  colors,  and  boasting  patterns  that  gave 
them  a  character  of  piquancy  and  originality.  They  bore 
representations  of  griffins  and  other  fabulous  animals,1[  which 
excited  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  foreigners,  who  did 
not  know  whether  they  beheld  mere  freaks  of  fancy  or 
portraits  of  the  wonderful  beasts  of  Lower  Asia. 

Besides  their  dresses,  carpets,  and  other  textile  fabrics, 
it  may  be  suspected  that  Babylonia  exported  rich  furniture. 
Whom  the  Assyrian  monarchs  invaded  a  foreign  territory, 
and  obtained  any  considerable  success,  they  almost  universally 
carried  off,  on  their  return  to  their  own  land,  great  part  of  the 
furniture  of  any  royal  palace  that  fell  into  their  hands,  as  the 
most  valued  portion  of  their  booty.  In  their  Babylonian 
expeditions  alone,  however,  do  they  particularize  the  several 
objects.  There  we  find  mention  of:  "  the  golden  throne,  the 
golden  parasol,  the  golden  sceptre,  the  silverchariot,"  **  and 
other  articles  that  cannot  be  identified.  There,  too,  we  find 

•Strab.,  xvi.,  p.  1074. 

t  Josh.  vii.  21.  J  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  p.  62. 

§  Theophrast.,  "  Hist.  Plant.,"  iv.  9. 

!!  Arrian,  "Exp.  Alex.,  vi.  29.  f  Athen.  Deipn.,  v.,  p.  197. 

**  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.,  p.  15. 


NOTICES  IN  EZEK1EL.  75 

that  when  a  foreign  prince  needed  persuading  in  order  to 
make  him  render  assistance,  and  a  "  propitiatory  offering  " 
had  to  be  sent  to  him,  "  a  throne  in  silver,  a  parasol  in  silver, 
i\  j'lixn-r  in  silver,  and  anirmaktu  in  silver"  were  the  objects 
sent.*  It  would  only  have  been  going  a  short  step  further  to 
offer  articles  so  highly  appreciated  to  foreign  customers 
generally. 

It  is  uncertain  whether  the  Babylonians  exported  grain, 
or  dates,  or  any  of  the  other  produce  of  the  palm.f  Enormous 
quantities  of  wheat,  barley,  millet,  and  sesame  were  raised  in 
their  country,:):  while  the  date  palm  grew  so  thickly  in  the 
lower  parts  of  the  territory  as  to  form  almost  a  continuous 
forest. §  The  natural  wealth  of  the  country  consisted  mainly 
in  the  abundance  of  these  products,  and  it  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible that  use  was  not  made  of  the  overplus  beyond  the 
wants  of  the  inhabitants  to  maintain  the  balance  of  trade, 
which  in  so  luxurious  an  empire  must  always  have  tended  to 
declare  itself  against  such  great  consumers..  But  ancient 
writers  are  rarely  interested  in  such  matters  as  trade  and 
commerce,  while  the  problems  of  political  economy  are 
wholly  unknown  to  them.  Hence  they  unfortunately  leave 
us  in  the  dark  on  numerous  points  which  to  us  seem  of 
primary  importance,  and  force  us  to  attempt  to  grope  our 
way  by  reasonable  conjecture. 

We  shall  pass  now  from  the  consideration  of  the  prob- 
able objects  of  traffic  between  Babylonia  and  other  countries 
to  that  of  the  nature  of  the  traffic,  and  the  probable  or 
certain  direction  of  its  various  lines.  Now  the  traffic  was, 
beyond  all  doubt,  carried  on  in  part  by  land  and  in  part  by 
sea,  the  Babylonians  not  only  having  dealings  with  their 
continental  neighbors,  but  also  carrying  on  a  commerce  with 
islands  and  countries  which  were  reached  in  ships. 

The  laud  traffic  itself  was  of  two  kinds.  Caravans  com- 
posed of  large  bodies  of  merchants,  with  their  attendants 
and  followers,  proceeded  from  Babylon  in  various  directions 
across  the  continent,  carrying  with  them,  on  the  backs  of 
camels  or  asses,  the  native  commodities  which  they  desired 
to  sell,  and  returning  after  a  time  with  such  foreign  produc- 
tions as  were  needed  or  desired  by  the  Babylonians.  Regular 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  45. 

t  The  palm  Pas  was  said  to  furnish  the  Babylonians  with  bread, 
wine,  vinegar,  honey,  groats,  string  and  ropes  of  all  kinds,  and  a  mash 
for  cattle  (Strab.,  xvi.  1,  §  14). 

J  Herod.,  i.  193.  §  Amin.  Marc.,  xxlv.  3. 


76  EG YPT  AND  BA B  YLON. 

routes  were  established  which  these  traveling  companies 
pursued ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  stations,  or  caravansarais, 
were  provided  for  their  accommodation  at  intervals.*  The 
mass  of  the  persons  composing  the  caravans  would  travel  on 
foot  :  but  the  richer  traders  would  be  mounted  on  camels, 
or  even  sometimes  on  horses.  It  would  be  necessary  to  be 
well  armed  in  order  to  resist  the  attacks  of  predatory  tribes, 
or  organized  bands  of  robbers  ;  f  and  the  caravans  would  re- 
quire to  be  numerous  for  the  same  reason.  There  would  be 
no  great  difference  between  these  ancient  companies  and 
the  caravans  of  the  present  day,  except  to  some  extent  in  the 
commodities  conveyed,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  other  than 
a  commercial  motive.! 

Other  traders  preferred  to  convey  their  goods  along  the 
courses  of  the  great  rivers,  which,  intercepting  Mesopotamia 
either  as  main  streams  or  tributaries,  from  natural  channels 
of  commercial  intercourse  with  the  neighboring  countries,  at 
any  rate,  for  a  considerable  distance.  Boats  and  rafts  readily 
descended  the  Tigris,  the  Euphrates,  and  their  affluents, § 
and  transported  almost  without  effort  the  produce  of  Com- 
magene,  Armenia,  and  Media  to  the  lower  Mesopotamia!! 
territory.  It  was  possible  by  the  use  of  sails  and  by  track- 
ing to  mount  the  rivers  in  certain  seasons  ;  and  this  we  know 
to  have  been  done  on  the  Euphrates  as  high  as  Thapsacus.|| 
Water-carriage  was  especially  convenient  for  the  conveyance, 
of  heavy  goods,  such  as  stone  for  building  or  for  statuary, 
obelisks,  and  the  like,  Both  the  monuments  and  profane 
writers  indicate  that  it  was  employed  for  these  purposes.lT 

The  principal  lines  of  land  traffic  seem  to  have  been  five. 
One,  which  may  be  called  the  Western,  was  along  the  course 
of  the  Euphrates  to  about  lat.  34°  3',  when  it  struck  across 
due  west  to  Tadmor,  or  Palmyra,  and  thence  proceeded  by 
way  of  Damascus  to  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Traces  of  the  em- 
ployment of  this  route  are  found  in  Ezekiel  (chap,  xxvii.  18, 
23,  24).  Along  it  would  be  conveyed  the  whole  of  the  Phoe- 
nician trade,  including  the  important  imports  of  tin,  Tyrian 
purple,  musical  instruments,  asses  of  superior  quality,  and 

*  See  Herod.,  v.  52,  who,  however,  speaks  of  Persian  times, 
t  See  Ezra.  viii.  22. 

t  The  religious  motive  of  pilgrimage  to  certain  shrines  swells  the 
iize  of  modern  caravans. 

§  Herod.,  i.  194.  II  Strab.,  xvi.  8,  §  18. 

T  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  200;  Diod.  Sic.,  ii.  11. 


NOTICES  IN  EZEKIEL.  77 

possibly  wine  of  Hebron,  together  with  the  exports  of  rich 
stuffs,  dresses,  and  embroidery. 

Another  kept  to  the  line  of  the  Euphrates  throughout, 
and  may  be  called  the  North-Western  route.  It  connected 
Babylon  with  Upper  Mesopotamia  and  Armenia.  Along 
this  was  conveyed  wine,  and  probably  copper ;  perhaps  also 
other  metals.  It  was  a  route  used  by  Armenian  merchants, 
who  descended  the  stream  in  round  boats,  made  of  wicker- 
work  covered  with  skins,  and,  having  sold  their  wares,  broke 
up  the  boats,  and  returned  on  foot  to  their  own  country.  * 
It  was  used  also  by  the  Babylonian  colonists  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  who  mounted  the  stream  as  far  as  Thapsacus,  and 
thence  carried  their  goods  by  land  in  various  directions.f 

The  third  route  was  towards  the  North.  It  connected 
Babylon  with  Assyria,  and  probably  followed  mainly  the  line 
of  the  Tigris,  which  it  may  have  struck  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
great  mart  of  Opis.  The  trade  between  the  two  countries 
of  Babylonia  and  Assyria  was,  in  the  flourishing  times  of  the 
latter  country,  highly  valued  ;  and  we  find  frequent  provision 
made  for  its  restoration  or  continuance  in  the  treaties  which 
from  time  to  time  were  concluded  between  the  two  powers. | 
The  alabaster  blocks  which  the  Babylonians  sometimes  em- 
ployed in  their  buildings  came  probably  by  this  line,  and  the 
two  countries  no  doubt  interchanged  various  manufactured 
products. 

A  fourth  line  of  land  trade,  and  one  of  great  importance, 
was  that  toward  the  North-east,  which  may  be  called  the 
Medo-Bactrian.  This  line,  after  crossing  Mount  Zagros  by 
the  way  of  Holwan  and  Behistun,  was  directed  upon  the 
Median-capital  of  Ecbatana,  whence  it  was  prolonged,  by  way 
of  Rhages  and  the  Caspian  Gates,  to  Balkh,  Herat,  and 
Cabul.  §  The  lapis  lazuli,  which  the  Babylonians  employed 
extensively,  can  only  have  come  from  Bactria,  ||  and  probably 
arrived  by  this  route,  along  which  may  also  have  traveled 
much  of  the  gold  imported  into  Babylon,  many  of  the  gems, 
the  fine  wool,  the  shawls,  the  Indian  dyes,  and  the  Indian 
dogs. 

The  fifth  line  w«*s  toward  the  East  and  South-east.  At 
first  it  ran  nearly  due  east  to  Susa,  but-  thence  it  was  de* 

*  Herod.,  i.  XM.  t  Strab.,  1.  i  c. 

t  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii-,  pp.  34,  35;  vol.  v.,  p.  -j. 
§  Hesreu,  "  Asiatic  Nations,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  203,  209-211. 
fi  Ibid.,  p.  206. 


78  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

fleeted,  and  continued  on  to  the  south-east,  through  Perse- 
polis,  to  Kerman  (Carmania).  Wool  was  probably  imported 
in  large  quantities  by  this  route,  together  with  onyxes  from 
the  Choaspes,*  cotton,  and  the  "  greyhounds  of  the  East."f 
The  sea  trade  of  the  Babylonians  was  primarily  with  the 
Persian  Gulf.  Here  they  had  an  important  settlement  on 
the  southern  coast,  called  Gerrha,  which  had. a  large  land 
traffic  with  the  interior  of  Arabia,  and  carried  its  merchan- 
dise to  Babylon  in  ships. £  The  "  ships  of  Ur  "  are  often 
mentioned  in  the  early  inscriptions, §  and  the  latter  ones  show 
that  numerous  vessels  were  always  to  be  found  in  the  ports 
at  the  head  of  the  gulf,  and  that  the  Babylonians  readily 
crossed  the  gulf  when  occasion  required.  ||  It  is  uncertain 
whether  they  adventured  themselves  beyond  its  mouth  into 
the  Indian  Ocean ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  by 
some  means  or  other  they  obtained  Indian  commodities 
which  would  have  come  most  readily  by  this  route.  The  teak 
found  in  their  buildings,  the  ivory  and  ebony  which  they 
almost  certainly  used,  the  cinnamon  and  the  cotton,  in  the 
large  quantities  in  which  they  needed  it,  can  only  have  come 
from  the  peninsula  of  Hindustan,  and  cannot  be  supposed  to 
have  traveled  by  the  circuitous  road  of  Cabul  and  Bactria. 
Arabian  spices  were  conveyed  by  the  Gerrhffians  in  their 
ships  to  Babylon  itself,  and  the  rest  of  the  trade  of  the  Gulf 
Avas  probably  chiefly  in  their  hands.  Perfumes  of  all  kinds, 
pearls,  wood  for  ship-building  and  walking-sticks,  cotton, 
gems,  gold,  Indian  fabrics,  flowed  into  the  Chaldaean  capital 
from  the  sea,  and  were  mostly  brought  to  it  in  ships  up  the 
Euphrates,  and  deposited  on  the  quays  at  the  merchants' 
doors.  ^Eschylus  calls  the  Babylonians  who  served  in  the 
army  of  Xerxes  "  navigators  of  ships."1[  Commercial  deal- 
ings among  the  dwellers  in  the  city  on  a  most  extensive 
scale  are  disclosed  by  the  Egibi  tablets ;  **  "  spice  mer- 
chants "  appear  among  the  witnesses  to  deeds.tt  Their  own 
records  and  the  accounts  of  the  Greeks  are  thus  in  the  com- 
pletest  agreement  with  the  Prophets  when  he  describes 
Babylon  as  "  a  land  of  traftick  ...  a  city  of  merchants." 

*  Dionys.  Perieg.,  II.  1073-1077.  t  See  above,  p.  100. 

J  Strab.  xvi.  4,  §  18;  Aiiathemer,  "  De  Mar.  Erythr.,"  §  87. 

§  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  12;  note  51. 

II  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  40,  43,  73;  vol.  vii.,  p.  6.3;  vol. 
lx..  p.  60.  t  "  ^Eschyl  Pers.,  11,  52-55. 

*•  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  vol.  vii., 
pp.  1-78.  tt  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vi..  p.  94. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  79 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FURTHER   NOTICES    OF    BABYLON   IN    DANIEL. 

"  Belshazzar  the  king  made  a  great  feast  to  a  thousand  of  his  lords, 
and  drank  wine  before  the  thousand.  Belshazzar,  whiles  he  tasted 
the  wine,  commanded  to  bring  the  gold  and  silver  vessels  which  his 
father.  Nebuchadnezzar,  had  taken  out  of  the  temple  which  was  in 
Jerusalem;  that  the  king,  and  his  princes,  his  wives,  and  his  concu- 
bihes,  might  drink  therein.  Then  they  brought  the  golden  vessels 
that  were  taken  out  of  the  temple  of  the  house  of  Ood  that  was  at 
Jerusalem;  and  the  king,  and  his  princes,  his  wives,  and  his  concu- 
bines, drank  in  them.  They  drank  wine,  and  praised  the  gods  of 
gold,  and  of  silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  of  stone." — DAN. 
v.  1-4. 

THE  main  difficulties  connected  with  the  Book  of  Daniel 
open  upon  us  with  the  commencement  of  chapter  v.  A  new 
king  makes  his  appearance — a  king  unknown  to  profane 
historians,  and  declared  by  some  critics  to  be  a  purely  ficti- 
tious personage.*  We  have  to  consider  at  the  outset  who 
this  Belshazzar  can  be.  Does  he  represent  any  king  known 
to  us  under  any  other  name  in  profane  history  ?  Can  we 
find  a  trace  of  him  in  the  inscriptions  ?  Or  is  he  altogether  an 
obscure  and  mysterious  personage,of  whose  very  existence  we 
have  no  trace  outside  Daniel,  and  who  must  therefore  always 
constitute  an  historical  difficulty  of  no  small  magnitude? 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  he  is  represented  as  the  son  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  (vers.  2,  11,  13,  18,  22).  The  only  son  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  of  whom  we  have  any  mention  in  profane 
history  is  Evil-Merodach,t  who  succeeded  his  father  in  B.  c. 
562,  and  reigned  somewhat  less  than  two  years,  ascending 
the  throne  in  Tisri  of  B.  c.  562,  and  ceasing  to  reign  in  Ab 
of  B.C.  560. $  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Belshazzar  of 
Daniel  is  this  monarch. § 

*  See  I)e  Wette,  "Einleitung  in  das  Alt.  Test.,  p.  255  a. 

t  Mentioned  by  Berosus,  Fr.  14;  Polyhistor  lap.  Euseb.,  "  Chron. 
Can."  i.  5),  and  Abydenus  (ap.  Euseb.  i.  10).  He  appears  in  the 
Babylonian  dated  tablets  as  Avil-Marduk. 

J  4i  Transactions  of  Bibl.  Arch.  Soc.,"  vol.  vi.,  pp.  25-26. 

§  So  Iliipfeld  and  Havernick. 


80  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  following  are  the  chief  objections  to  this  theory  :— 
(a)  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Evil-Merodach  ever 
bore  any  other  name,  or  was  known  to  the  Jews  under  one 
designation,  to  the  Babylonians  under  another.  He  aj> 
pears  in  the  Book  of  Kings  under  his  rightful  name  of  Evil- 
Merodach  (2  Kings  xxv.  27),  and  again  in  the  Book  of 
Jeremiah  (Jer.  lii.  31).  Unless  we  have  distinct  evidence 
of  a  monarch  having  borne  two  names,  it  is  to  the  last  degree 
uncritical  to  presume  it.  (b)  The  third  year  of  Belshazzar 
is  mentioned  in  Daniel  (ch.  viii.  1).  Evil-Merodach  is 
assigned  two  years  only  by  Ptolemy,  Berosus,  and  Aby- 
denus ;  §  the  latest  date  upon  his  tablets  is  his  second  year ; 
he  actually  reigned  no  more  than  a  year  and  ten  months,  (c) 
Evil-Merodach  was  put  to  death  by  his  brother-in-law,  Nerig- 
lissar,  in  B.  c.  560.  Babylon  was  at  this  time  under  no  peril 
from  the  Medes  and  Persians,  to  whom  the  death  of  Belshaz- 
zar appears  to  be  attributed  (vers.  31).  (d)  The  identification 
of  Belshazzar  with  Evil-Merodach  involves  that  of  "  Darius 
the  Median  "  ver.  31)  with  Neriglissar,  who  was  not  a  Mede, 
and  had  a  name  as  remote  as  possible  from  that  of  Darius. 

If  Belshazzar  be  not  Evil-Merodach,  can  he  be  Neriglis- 
sar?  Here  the  name  is  not  so  great  a  difficulty.  For,  in 
the  first  place,  the  two  words  have  two  words  have  two  ele- 
ments in  common.  Neriglissar  is  in  the  Babylonian,  Ner- 
galsar-uzur,  while  Belshazzar  is  Bel-sar-uzur.  Moreover,  it 
was  not  an  unknown  thing  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria  to 
substitute  in  a  royal  designation  the  name  of  one  god  for 
another.f  But,  per  contra  (d)  Nergal  was  a  god  so  distinct 
from  Bel,  that  we  can  scarcely  imagine  such  a  substitution 
as  Bel  for  Nergal  having  been  allowable,  (b)  Neriglissar 
was  the  son-in-law,  not  the  son,  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  (c) 
He  appears  to  have  died  peaceably,  and  to  have  been  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  Labasi-Merodach  (Labossoracus),!  instead 
of  being  "  slain  "  suddenly,  and  succeeded  by  a  Darius.  It 
seems  therefore  impossible  that  the  Belshazzar  of  Daniel  can 
be  Neriglissar. 

Is  he,  then,  as  Josephus  supposed,  Nabonidus  ?  §  Na- 
bonidus,  according  to  Ptolemy  and  Berosus,  was  the  last  na- 
tive king.  The  Medes  and  Persians  destroyed  his  kingdom, 
and  made  him  prisoner ;  after  which,  in  a  little  time,  he 

*  Ptol.,  "  Mag.  Syntax.,"  v.  14;  Beros.,  1.  s.  c.,  Abyden.,  1.  s.  c. 

t  "  Transactions  of  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  vol.  vi.,  p.  28. 

t  Berosus,  1.  s.  c.  §  Joseph.,  "Ant.  Jud.,  x.  11,  §  2, 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  81 

died.  On  his  capture  the  Medo-Persian  rule  was  established, 
and  continued  thenceforth  uninterruptedly  except  for  one 
or  two  revolts.  Here,  again,  (a)  the  name  is  an  insuperable 
difficulty :  nothing  can  well  be  more  unlike  Belshazzar  than 
Nabunahid.  But,  further,  (£)  Nabu-nahid  is  distinctly  said 
to  have  been  in  no  way  related  to  Nebuchadnezzar.*  (c) 
Also  his  mother  died  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  reign, |  eight 
years  before  his  own  capture  and  decease ;  but  it  is  the 
mother  of  Belshazzar  probably  who  comes  into  the  banquet 
house  at  the  time  of  his  fcast.J  (</)  Nabonidus,  again,  did 
not  die  on  the  night  that  his  kingdom  passed  to  the  Medes 
and  Persians,  as  Belshazzar  did  (ver.  30).  On  the  contrary, 
he  survived  eight  months.§  Thus  the  hypothesis  that 
Belshazzar  is  Nabonidus,  though  embraced  by  many,  ||  is  as 
untenable  as  the  others  ;  and  we  have  still  to  seek  an  answer 
to  the  question,  "Who  was  the  Belshazzar  of  Daniel  ? 

A  discovery  made  by  Sir.  H.  Rawlinson  in  the  year  1854 
gave  the  first  clue  to  what  we  incline  to  regard  as  the  true 
answer.  On  cylinders  placed  by  Nabonidus  at  the  corners 
of  the  great  temple  of  Ur,  he  mentioned  by  name  "  his  eldest 
son,  Bel-sar-uzur,"  and  prayed  the  moon-god  to  take  him 
under  his  protection,  "  that  his  glory  might  endure."  On 
reading  this  the  learned  decipherer  at  once  declared  it  to  be 
his  opinion  that  Bel-sar-uzur  had  been  associated  in  the 
government  by  his  father,  and  possessed  the  kingly  power. 
If  this  were  so,  it  could  scarcely  be  disputed  that  he  was 
Daniel's  Belshazzar.  Sir.  H.  Rawlinson's  inference  from  the 
inscription  has,  however,  been  denied.  Mr.  Fox  Talbot  has 
maintained  that  the  inscription  does  not  furnish  "  the  slight- 
est evidence  "  that  Bel-sar-uzur  was  ever  regarded  as  co- 
regent  with  his  father.  "  He  may,"  he  says,  "  have  been  a 
mere  child  when  it  was  written."  If  The  controversy  turns 
upon  the  question,  What  was  Oriental  practice  in  this  mat- 
ter? Sir.  H.  liawlinson  holds  that  Oriental  monarchs 
generally,  and  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings  in  par- 

*  Abydenus,  1.  s.  c. 

t  S?e  the  "  Nabonidus  Tablet,"  in  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Bib. 
Arch  Soc.,"  vol.  vii..  p.  158. 

t  See  "Speaker's  Commentary"  on  Dan.  v.  10  ;  and  compare 
Pusey's  "Daniel,"  p.  449. 

§  This  is  proved  by  the  "  Nabonidus  Tablet"  ("Transactions, 
etc.,"  vol.  vii.,  pp.  165-7). 

II  As  Josephus,  Heeren,  Clinton,  Winer,  and  others. 

T  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  p.  144. 


82.  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

ticular,  were  so  jealous  of  possible  rivals  in  their  own  family, 
that  they  did  not  name  even  their  sons  upon  public  docu- 
ments unless  they  had  associated  them.  Kudurmabuk  men- 
tions his  son  Rim-agu  ;  *  but  he  has  made  him  King  of 
Larsa.  Sennacherib  mentions  Asshur-nadin-sum,t  but  on  the 
occasion  of  his  elevation  to  the  throne  of  Babylon.  Apart 
from  these  instances,  and  that  of  Bel-sar-uzur,  there  does  not 
seem  to  be  any  mention  made  of  their  sons  by  name  by  the 
monarchs  of  either  country. 

The  supposition  that  Bel-sar-uzur  may  have  been  "  a 
mere  child  "  when  the  inscription  on  which  his  name  occurs 
was  set  up,  is  completely  negatived  by  the  newly-discovered 
tablet  of  Nabonidus,  which  shows  him  to  have  had  a  son — and 
Bel-sar-uzur  was  his  "  eldest  son  " — who  held  the  command 
of  his  main  army  from  his  seventh  year,  B.  o.  549,  to  his 
eleventh,  B.  c.  545.  t  It  is  a  reasonable  supposition  that  the 
prince  mentioned  upon  this  tablet  was  Bel-sar-uzur.  He 
is  called  emphatically  "  the  king's  son,"  and  is  mentioned 
five  times.  While  Cyrus  is  threatening  Babylon  both  on  the 
north  and  on  the  south,  Nabonidus  is  shown  to  have  re- 
mained sluggish  and  inert  within  the  walls  of  the  capital, 
the  true  kingly  power  being  exercised  by  "  the  king's  son," 
who  is  with  the  army  and  the  officers  in  Akkad,  or  northern 
Babylonia,  watching  Cyrus  and  protecting  Babylon.  When 
the  advance  of  the  army  of  Cyrus  is  finally  made,  what  "  the 
king's  son  "  did  is  not  told  us.  Nabonidus  must  have  roused 
himself  from  his  lethargy  and  joined  his  troops ;  but  as  soon 
as  he  found  himself  in  danger,  he  fled.  Pursuit  was  made, 
and  he  was  captured — possibly  in  Borsippa,  as  Berosus  re- 
lated.§  The  victorious  Persians  took  him  with  them  into 
Babylon.  If  at  this  time  "the  king's  son"  was  still  alive, 
any  further  resistance  that  was  made  must,  almost  certainly, 
have  been  made  by  him.  Now  such  resistance  was  made. 
A  body  of  "rebels,"  as  they  are  called,  threw  themselves 
into  Bit-Saggatu,  or  the  fortified  enclosure  within  which 
stood  the  Great  Temple  of  Bel-Mcrodae'h  and  the  Royal 
Palace,  and  shutting  to  the  gates,  defied  the  enemy.  It  is 
true  our  record  says  no  preparations  had  been  made  previ- 
ously for  the  defence  of  the  place,  and  there  was  no  store  oi 
weapons  within  it.  But  the  soldiers  would  have  their  own 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iii..  p.  20.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  I.,  p.  40. 

t  "  Transactions,*'  vol.  vli.,  pp.  156-161.         §  Berosus,  Fr.  14. 


NOTICES  IX  DANIEL.  83 

weapons  :  the  temple  and  the  palace  would  probably  be  well 
supplied  with  wine  and  provisions ;  the  defence  would  be 
strong  ;  and  the  feeling  of  the  defenders  may  well  have  been 
such  as  Herodotus  ascribes  to  the  mass  of  the  Babylonians 
when  they  shut  themselves  within  the  walls  of  the  town.* 
Bel-sar-uzur  and  his  lords  may  have  felt  so  secure  that  they 
could  indulge  in  feasting  and  revelry.  They  may  have 
maintained  their  position  for  months.  It  is  at  any  rate 
most  remarkable  that  the  writer  of  the  tablet,  having 
launched  his  shafts  of  contempt  against  the  foolish  "  rebels," 
interposes  a  break  of  more  than  four  months  between  this 
and  the  next  paragraph.  It  was  at  the  end  of  Tammuz  that 
the  "  rebels  "  closed  the  gates  of  Bit-Saggatu ;  it  was  not 
till  the  3d  day  of  Marchesvan  that  "  Cyrus  to  Babylon  de- 
scended," and  established  peace  there.  It  may  have  been  on 
the  night  of  his  arrival  with  strong  reinforcements  that  the 
final  attack  was  made,  and  that  Belshazzar,  having  provoked 
God  by  a  wanton  act  of  impiety,  "was  slain"  (ver.  31). 
Nearly  five  months  later,  on  the  27th  of  Adar,  "  the  king 
(Xabonidus  )  died." 

It  is  objected  to  the  view,  that  the  Belshazzar  of 
Daniel  is  Bel-sar-uzur,  the  eldest  son  of  Nabonidus  : — 
1.  That  Belshazzar  is  called  repeatedly  the  son  of  Neb- 
uchadnezzar,* while  we  have  no  evidence  that  Bel-sar- 
lizur  was  in  any  way  related  to  that  monarch.  2.  That 
"  the  Book  of  Daniel  gives  not  the  least  hint  of  Bel-shazzar 
as  having  a  father  still  alive  and  on  the  throne."t  The 
first  of  ^these  objections  has  been  often  answered.!  In 
Scripture,  it  has  been  observed,  "father"  stands  for  any 
male  ancestor,  "  son  "  for  any  male  descendant.  Jehosha- 
phat  is  called  "  the  son  of  Nimshi,"  though  really  his  grand- 
son ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  "  the  son  of  David,"  who  is  "  the 
son  of  Abraham"  (Matt.  i.  1);  Ezra  is  "the  son  of  Seraiah  " 
(Ezra  vii.  1),  the  "chief  priest"  of  the  captivity  ('2  Kings 
xxv.  18),  who  died  B.  c.  586  (ver.  21),  of  whom  Ezra  there- 
fore  (B.  r.  460-440)  must  have  been  really  the  grandson  or 
great-grandson.  Conversely,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are 
the  "fathers "  of  the  Israelites  after  they  have  been  four 
hundred  years  in  Egypt  (Exod.  iii.  lf>,  16) ;  Jonadab  the 

»  Herod,,  f.  190. 

t  Fox  Talbot,  in  "  Records  of  the  past."  vol.  v.,  p.  144.        J  Ibid. 
§  See  the   author's  "  Bsmpton  Lectures,"  Lecture  N.,  pp.   184 
135.  and  note. 


84  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

son  of  Rechab,  the  friend  of  Jehu  (2  Kings  x.  15),  is  the 
"  father  "  of  the  Rechabites,  contemporary  with  Jeremiah 
(Jer.  xxxv.  6)  ;  and  Jehoram,  king  of  Judah,  is  the  father  of 
tlzziah  (Matt.  i.  8),  his  fourth  descendant.  The  rationale  of 
the  matter  is  as  follows  :  Neither  in  Hebrew  nor  in  Chaldee 
is  there  any  word  for  "  grandfather  "  or  "grandson."  To 
express  the  relationship  it  would  be  necessary  to  say,  "fath- 
er's father  "  and  "son's  son."  But  "father's  father"  and 
"  son's  son "  are,  by  an  idiom  of  the  language,  used  with 
an  idea  of  remoteness — to  express  distant  ancestors  or  de- 
scendants. Consequently  they  are  rendered  by  usage  unapt 
to  express  the  near  relationship  of  grandfather  and  grand- 
son ;  and  the  result  is  that  they  are  very  rarely  so  used.  As 
Dr.  Pusey  has  well  observed,*  "A  single  grandfather,  or 
forefather,  is  never  called  '  father's  father,'  always  'father' 
only."  This  is  so  alike  in  early  and  in  late  Hebrew ;  and 
the  Chaldee  follows  the  idiom.  Jacob  says,  "  The  God  of 
my  father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  fear  of  Isaac  " 
(Gen.  xxxi.  42).  God  says  to  Aaron,  "  The  tribe  of  Levi, 
the  tribe  of  thy  father"  (Num.  xviii.  2).  The  confession  to 
be  made  at  the  offering  of  the  first-fruits  began,  "  a  Syrian, 
ready  to.  per-ish,  was  my  father  "  (Deut.  xxvi.  5)  ;  and  in  the 
same  sense,  probably,  Moses  says,  "  the  God  of  my  father  " 
(Exod.  xviii.  4).  David  said  to  Mephibosheth,  "  I  will 
surely  show  the  kindness  for  Jonathan  thy  father's  sake,  and 
will  restore  to  thee  all  the  land  of  Saul  thy  father  "  (2  Sam. 
ix.  7).  And  Asa  is  said  to  have  "  removed  Maachah,  his 
mother,  from  being  queen,"  though  it  is  said  in  the  same 
chapter  that  she  was  the  mother  of  Abijam,  his  father  (1 
Kings  xv.  2,  13).  Maachah  herself,  who  is  called  "  daughter 
of  Absalom  "  (1  Kings  xv.  2),  was  really  his  grand-daughter, 
he  having  left  only  one  daughter,  Tamar  (2  Sam.  xiv.  27), 
and  her  own  father  being  Uriel  (2  Chron.  xiii.  2).  Ag:iin 
it  is  said,  "  Asa  did  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  as  did 
David  his  father"  (1  Kings  xv.  11),  and  in  like  way  of 
Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii.  3).  Contrariwise,  it  is  said  that 
"  Ahaz  did  not  right  like  David  his  father  "  (xvi.  2)  ;  that 
"  Amaziah  did  right,  yet  not  like  David  his  father ;  he  did 
according  to  all  things  as  Joash  his  father  did  "  (xiv.  3). 
Here,  in  one  verse,  the  actual  father  and  the  remote  grand- 
father are  alike  called  "  his  father  ;  "  as  before  the  father  and 
grandfather  of  Mephibosheth  were  called,  in  the  same  verse, 
•  See  his  "  Lectures  on  Daniel/'  Lecture  VII..  pp.  405,  406. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  85 

"  his  father."  "Josiah,"  it  is  said,  "walked  in  the  way 
of  David  his  father ;  he  began  to  seek  the  God  of  David  his 
father  "  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  2,  3).  In  Isaiah  there  occur  "  Jacob 
thy  father  "  (Isa  Iviii.  14) ;  "  thy  first  father  "  (xliii.  27)— i.  e^ 
Adam;  and  to  Hezekiah  he  said,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the 
God  of  David  thy  father  "  (xxxviii.  5V  So,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  Hebrew  or  Chaldee  word  to  express 
"  grandson."  In  laws,  if  the  relation  has  to  be  expressed, 
the  idiom  is  "thy  son's  daughter"  (Lev.  xviii.  10),  or  thy 
"•daughter's  daughter "  (Ibid.)  ;  or  it  is  said,  "Thou  shalt 
tell  it  to  thy  son's  son  "  (Exod.  x.  2) ;  "  Rule  thou  over  us, 
thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  son's  son "  (Judg.  viii. 
'!->.  The  relation  can  be  expressed  in  this  way  in  the 
abstract,  but  there  is  no  way  in  Hebrew  or  Chaldee  to  mark 
that  one  person  was  the  grandson  of  another,  except  in  the 
way  of  genealogy — "Jehu,  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  son 
of  Nimshi."  And  so  the  name  "  son  "  stands  for  the  "  grand- 
son," and  a  person  is  at  times  called  the  son  of  the  more  re- 
markable grandfather,  the  link  of  the  father's  name  being 
omitted.  Thus  Jacob  asked  for  "Laban,  the  son  of  Nahor" 
(Gen.  xxix.  5),  omitting  the  immediate  father,  Bethuel ; 
Jehu  is  called  "the  son  of  Nimshi"  (1  Kings  xix.  16;  2 
Kings  ix.  20),  omitting  his  own  father,  Jehoshaphat.  The 
prophet  Zechariah  is  called  "  the  son  of  Iddo  "  (Ezra  v.  1 ; 
vi.  14),  his  own  father  being  Berachiah  (Zech.  i.  1).  Hence 
the  Rechabites  said,  as  a  matter  of  course,  "  Jonadab,  the 
son  of  Rechab,  our  father,  commanded  us ;  we  have  obeyed 
in  all  things  the  voice  of  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  our 
father"  (Jer.  xxxv.  6,  8) ;  although  Jonadab  lived  some  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years  before  (2  Kings  x.  15).  And  re- 
ciprocally God  says,  "  The  words  of  Jonadab,  the  son  of 
Rechab,  that  he  commanded  his  sons,  are  performed  "  (ver. 
14) ;  and  "  Because  ye  have  obeyed  the  commandments  of 
Jonadab  your  father,  and  kept  all  his  precepts  "  (ver.  16). 

But,  it  is  objected,  all  this  may  be  true ;  yet  it  proves 
nothing.  Nabonidus  was  not  in  any  way  related  to  Nebu- 
chadnezzar— he  was  "  merely  a  Babylonian  nobleman."  * 
How,  then,  should  his  son  be  even  Nebuchadnezzar's  grand- 
son? This,  too,  has  been  answerod,f  and  it  is  curious  that 
the  answer  should  be  ignored.  Belshazzar,  it  has  been  ob- 

*  Fox  Talbot,  in  "  Records  of  t.liP  Past,"  vol.  v.  p.  144. 

t  See  the  author's  "  Broiupton  Lectures,"  Lecture  V.,  note  21. 


86  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

served^  may  have  been  the  grandson  of  Nebuchadnezzar  on 
the  mother's  side.  His  father,  Nebonicus,  may  have  married 
one  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  daughters. 

It  must  be  granted  that  we  have  no  proof  that  he  did. 
We  have,  however,  some  indications  from  which  we  should 
naturally  have  drawn  the  conclusion  independently  of  the 
Book  of  Daniel.  Two  pretenders  to  the  throne  of  Babylon 
started  up  during  the  reign  of  Darius  Hystaspis,  both  of 
whom  called  themselves  "Nebuchadnezzar,  son  of  Naboni- 
dus."  *  It  is  certain  from  this  that  Nabonidus  must  have 
had  a  son  so  called,  for  no  pretender  would  assume  the  name 
of  a  person  who  never  existed.  How,  then,  are  we  to  ac- 
count for  Nabonidus  having  given  this  name  to  one  of  his 
sons  ?  Usm-pers,  as  a  rule,  desire  not  to  recall  the  memory 
of  the  family  which  they  have  dispossessed.  The  Sargonidae 
discarded  all  the  names  in  use  among  their  predecessors.  So 
did  the  Egyptian  monarchs  of  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth 
dynasties.  So,  again,  did  those  of  the  twenty-first,  and  the 
Psammetichi.  Nabonidus  must  have  intended  to  claim  a 
family  connection  with  the  preceding  Babylonian  monarchs 
when  he  thus  named  a  son.  And  if  he  was  indeed  "  no  way 
related  to  Nebuchadnezzar,"  the  connection  could  only  have 
been  by  marriage.  The  probability,  therefore,  is  that  the 
principal  wife  of  Nabonidus,  the  queen  (or  queen-mother)  of 
Dan.  v.  10,  was  a  daughter  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  that 
through  her  Belshazzar  was  Nebuchadnezzar's  grand-son. 

But  further:  it  is  objected  that  "the  Book  of  Daniel 
gives  not  the  slightest  hint  of  Belshazzar  having  a  father 
alive,  and  still  upon  the  throne/'  f  In  reply  it  may  be  said, 
in  the  first  place,  that,  were  it  so,  no  surprise  need  be  felt; 
since,  if  the  circumstances  were  as  above  supposed,  if  Nabo- 
nidus after  a  shameful  flight  was  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  and  Belshazzar  was  conducting  the  defence  alone, 
any  distinct  allusion  to  the  captured  king  would  be  improb- 
able. But,  secondly,  it  is  not  true  that  there  is  "no  hint." 
Belsha/zar  makes  proclamation  that,  if  any  one  can  read  and 
interpret  the  writing  miraculously  inscribed  upon  the  wall, 
"he  shall  be  clothed  with  scarletx  and  have  a  chain  of  gold 
about  his  neck,  and  shall  be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom" 
(v.  7)  ;  and  when  Daniel  has  read  and  interpreted  the  words, 

»  See  the  "  Behistun  Inscription,"  in  the  author's  "  Herodotus," 
vol.  ii..  pp.  5fH5,  «o«. 

t  Fox  Talbot,  In  "Records  of  the  Past,"  1.  s.  c. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  87 

the  nets  promised  are  performed — "  they  clothed  Daniel  with 
scarlet,  and  put  a  chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and  made  a 
proclamation  concerning  him,  that  he  should  be  the  third 
ruler  in  the  kingdom  "  (ver.  29).  It  has  been  suggested  that 
to  be  the  "  third  ruler  "  was  to  be  one  of  the  three  presidents 
who  were  subsequently  set  over  the  satraps  (vi.  2) ;  but 
neither  is  this  the  plain  force  of  the  words,  nor  was  the  or- 
ganization of  chap.  vi.  1, 2  as  yet  existing.  To  be  "  the  third 
ruler  in  the  kingdom  "  is  to  hold  a  position  one  degree  lower 
than  that  of  "  second  from  the  king,"  which  was  conferred 
upon  Joseph  (Gen.  xli.  40-44),  and  upon  Mordecai  (Esth.  x. 
3)  ;  it  is  to  hold  a  position  in  the  kingdom  inferior  to  two 
persons,  and  to  two  persons  only.  That  the  proclamation 
ran  in  this  form  is  a  "  hint,"  and  more  than  a  hint,  that  the 
first  and  second  places  were  occupied,  that  there  were  two 
kings  upon  the  throne,  and  that  therefore  the  highest  position 
that  could,  under  the  circumstances,  be  granted  to  a  subject 
was  the  third  place,  the  place  next  to  two  sovereigns.  If  we 
compare  the  two  nearly  parallel  cases  of  Joseph  and  Morde- 
cai— subjects  whom  their  despotic  master  "delighted  to 
honor " — with  that  of  Daniel  at  this  time,  we  shall  find  it 
scarcely  possible  to  assign  any  other  reason  for  his  being 
promoted  to  the  third  place  in  the  kingdom  than  the  fact 
that  the  first  and  second  places  were  already  occupied  by  the 
son  and  father,  Belshazzar  and  Xabonidus. 


EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  DANIEL. 

"'Darius  the  Median  took  the  kingdom,  being  about  threescore  and 
two  years  old.  It  pleased  Darius  to  set  over  the  kingdom  an  hundred 
and  twenty  princes,  which  should  be  over  the  whole  kingdom." — 
DAN.  v.  31 ;  vi.  1. 

THE  reign  of  "  Darius  the  Median  "  over  Babylon  is  the 
second  great  historical  difficulty  which  the  Book  of  Daniel 
presents  to  the  modern  inquirer.  According  to  Herodotus,* 
Berosus,f  and  the  Canon  of  Ptolemy,  the  immediate  successor 
of  Nabonidus  (Labynetus)  was  Cyrus — no  king  intervened 
between  them.  The  Babylonian  reords  are  in  accord.  Two 
contemporary  documents  $  declare  that  Cyrus  defeated  Nabo- 
nidus, captured  him,  and  took  the  direction  of  affairs  into  his 
own  hands.  One  of  them  contains  a  proclamation,  issued  by 
Cyrus,  as  it  would  seem,  immediately  after  his  conquest,  § 
in  which  he  assumes  the  recognized  titles  of  Babylonian 
sovereignty,  calling  himself  "the  great  king,  the  powerful 
king,  the  king  of  Babylon,  the  king  of  Sumir  and  Akkad,  the 
king  of  the  four  regions."  Who,  then,  it  has  to  be  asked,  is 
this  "Darius  the  Median,"  who  "took  the  kingdom,"  and 
made  arrangements  for  its  government,  immediately  after 
the  fall  of  the  native  Babylonian  power,  and  its  suppression 
by  that  of  the  Modes  and  Persians  ? 

All  that  Scripture  tells  us  of  "Darius  the  Median," 
besides  the  points  already  mentioned,  is  that  he  was  the  son 
of  Ahasuerus,  that  he  was  an  actual  Mede  by  descent  ("  of 
the  seedot  the  Medes,"  Dan.  ix.  1),  that  he  advanced  Daniel 
to  a  high  dignity  (ch.  vi.  2),  and  that  afterwards  he  cast 

•  Herod.,  i.  188,  191.  t  Berosus,  Fr.  14. 

t  See  the  "  Cylinder  Inscription  of  Cyrus,"  published  in  the 
"  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xii.,  pp.  85-9  ;  and 
"  Transactions  of  Bibl.  Archreol.  Society,"  vol.  vii.,  pp.  153-169. 

§  "  As.  Soc.  Journ.,  vol.  xii.,  p.  87. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  89 

Daniel  into  the  den  of  lions  and  released  him.  The  first  and 
second  of  these  facts  seem  conclusive  against  a  theory  which 
has  been  of  late  years  strongly  advocated — viz.,  that  he  i? 
really  "  Darius  the  son  of  Hystaspis,"  *  the  great  Darius,  the 
only  Darius  mentioned  in  Scripture,  except  Codomannus, 
whose  name  occurs  in  one  place  (Neh.  xii.  22).  We  know 
not  only  the  father,  but  the  entire  descent  of  Darius  Hys- 
taspis, up  to  Achaemenes,  the  founder  of  the  Persian  royal 
family  ;  f  and  we  find  no  "  Ahasuerus  " — the  Hebrew  form 
of  the  Persian  Khshayarsha,  the  Greek  Xerxes — in  the  list. 
There  is  the  strongest  evidence  that  he  was  of  pure  Persian 
race,  and  not  an  atom  of  evidence  that  he  had  any  Median 
blood  in  his  veins.  It  is  among  his  proudest  boasts  that  he 
is  "  an  Aryan,  of  Aryan  descent,  a  Persian,  the  son  of  a 
Persian."  t  He  was  a  member  of  the  Persian  royal  family, 
closely  akin  to  Cyrus.  The  Medes  revolted  against  him,  and 
fought  desperately  to  throw  off  his  authority  and  place  them- 
selves under  a  real  Mede,  Frawartish,  who  claimed  to  be  "of 
the  race  of  Cyaxares."  §  Cyrus  might  with  better  reason  be 
called  a  Mede  than  Darius,  for  some  high  authorities  gave 
Cyrus  a  Median  mother ;  ||  but  there  is  no  such  tradition  with 
respect  to  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspis. 

Another  extraordinary  theory,  recently  broached,  identi- 
fies "  Darius  the  Mede "  with  Cyrus.  If  Darius,  it  is  said, 
may  be  in  Daniel,  not  a  name,  but  a  title.  Etymological ly, 
the  name  would  mean  "  holder,"  or  "  firm  holder,"  and 
it  may  therefore  have  been  a  synonym  for  king  or  ruler. 
Daryavesh  Madaya  (in  Dan.  v.  31)  may  mean,  not  "Darius 
the  Mede,"  but  only  ",  the  king  or  ruler  of  the  Medes,  a  fit 
title  for  Cyrus  "  ! 

But  how  does  this  conjectural  explanation  suit  the  other 
passages  of  Daniel" where  the  name  of  Darius  occurs?  We 
read  in  ch.  vi.  28,  "  So  this  Daniel  prospered  in  the  reign  of 
Darius,  and  in  tfie  reign  of  Cyrus  the  Persian.'1''  Does  this 
mean,  he  prospered  "  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  and  in  the  reign 
of  Cyrus  ?  Again,  we  read,  in  ch.  ix  1,  of  "  Darius,  the 
Bon  of  Ahasuerus."  How  can  this  apply  to  Cyrus,  who  was 

•Particularly  by  Mr.  Bosanquet  ("Transactions,"  etc.,  voL  vL, 
pp.  84,  100,  130. 

t  See  the  Author's  "  Herodotus,"  vol.  iv.,  254-5. 
t  See  the  Author's  "Herodotus,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  250. 
§  Ibid.,  vol.  ii..  pp.  598-602. 
II  Herod.,  i.  108;  Xen.  "  Cyrop.."  i.  2,  §  1. 
I  "Transactions,"  etc.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  29. 


90  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

the  son  of  Cambyses?  Further,  how  are  we  to  understand 
the  expression  "  King  Darius,"  which  occurs  in  ch.  vi.  6,  9, 
25  ?  Does  it  mean  "  king,  king  "  ?  "We  will  not  insult  our 
readers'  intellects  by  continuing.  We  will  only  add  one  less 
obvious  argument,  an  argument  which  may  further  our  quest 
and  give  us  perhaps  some  help  in  determining,  not  only  who 
"  Darius  the  Median  "  was  not,  but  who  he  was. 

It  is  said  in  ch.  v.  31,  that  "  Darius  the  Median  took  the 
kingdom,"  and  in  ch.  ix.  1,  that  he  "  was  made  king  over 
the  realm  of  the  Chaldeans."  Neither  of  these  two  expres- 
sions is  suitable  to  Cyrus. '  The  word  translated  "  took " 
means  "  received,"  "  took  from  the  hands  of  another ;  "  and 
the  other  passage  is  yet  more  unmistakable.  "  Was  made 
king  "  exactly  expresses  the  original,  which  uses  the  Hophal 
of  the  verb,  the  Hiphel  of  which  occurs  when  David  makes 
Solomon  king  over  Israel  (1  Chron.  xxix.  20).  No  one  would 
say  of  Alexander  the  Great,  when  he  conquered  Darius 
Codomannus,  that  he  "  was  made  king  over  Persia."  The 
expression  implies  the  reception  of  a  kingly  position  by  one 
man  from  the  hands  of  another.  Now  Babylon,  while  under 
the  Assyrians,  had  been  almost  always  governed  by  viceroys, 
who  received  their  crowns  from  the  Assyrian  monarchs.* 
It  was  not  unnatural  that  Cyrus  should  follow  the  same 
system.  He  had  necessarily  to  appoint  a  governor,  and  the 
"  Nabonidus  Tablet  "  tells  us  that  he  did  so  almost  imme- 
diately after  taking  possession  of  the  city.  The  first  gover- 
nor appointed  was  a  certain  Gobryas,  f  whose  nationality  is 
doubtful  ;  but  he  appears  to  have  been  shortly  aferwards 
sent  to  some  other  locality.}:  A  different  arrangement  must 
have  been  then  made.  That  Cyrus  should  have  appointed 
a  Mede,  and  allowed  him  to  take  the  title  of  "  king,"  is  in  no 
way  improbable,  lie  was  fond  of  appointing  Medes  to  high 
office,  as  we  learn  from  Herodotus. §  He  was  earnestly  de- 
si  runs  of  conciliating  the  Babylonians,  as  we  find  from  his 
cyliiider.||  It  was  not  many  years  before  he  gave  his  son, 
( 'imibyses,  the  full  royal  power  at  Babylon,  relinquishing  it 
himself,  as  appears  from  a  dated  tablet.1l"  The  position  of 

*  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  42. 

t  So  at  least  I  understand  the  passage  ("Transactions,"  etc.,  vol 
vii.,  p.  166,  1.  20). 

J  Ibid.,  p.  167.  1.  22.     The  reading  is  uncertain. 

§  Herod.,  i.  lofl.  1<»2. 

II  "  Journal  of  Royal  Asiallc  Society."  vol.  xii.,  pp.  87-8. 

T  "  Transactions,  etc.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  489. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  91 

«'  Darius  the  Median  "  in  Daniel  is  compatible  with  all  that 
we  know  with  any  certainty  from  other  sources.  We  have 
only  to  suppose  that  Cyrus,  in  the  interval  between  the  brief 
governorship  of  Gobryas  and  the  sovereignty  of  Cambyses, 
placed  Babylon  under  a  Median  noble  named  Darius,  and 
allowed  him  a  position  intermediate  between  that  of  a  mere 
ordinary  "  governor  "  and  the  full  royal  authority. 

The  position  of  Darius  the  Median,  as  a  subject  king  set 
up  by  Cyrus,  has  been  widely  accepted,  but  critics  have  not 
been  content  to  rest  at  this  point.  Attempts  have  been  made 
to  identify  him  further  with  som,e  person  celebrated  in  his- 
tory ;  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  he  was  either  Astyages, 
the  last  Median  monarch,*  or  his  supposed  son  Cyaxares.f 
Neither  identification  can  be  substantiated.  The  very  exist- 
ence of  a  second  Cyaxares,  the  son  of  Astyages,  is  more  than 
questionable. t  The  names  are,  in  both  cases,  unsuitable. 
The  age  of  Darius  when  he  "  took  the  kingdom  "  falls  short 
of  the  probable  age  of  Astyages.  It  seems  best  to  acquiesce 
in  the  view  of  those  who  hold  that  "  Darius  the  Mede  is  an 
historic  character,"  but  one  "  whose  name  has  not  yet  been 
found  except  in  Scripture. "§ 

It  is  in  no  way  surprising  that,  on  being  set  over  the 
realm  of  the  Chaldees,  Darius  should  have  occupied  himself 
in  giving  it  a  new  organization.  We  are  scarcely  entitled  to 
assume,  from  the  expression  used  inDan.vi.  1,  that  he  called 
his  new  officers  "  satraps  ; "  but  still  it  is  quite  possible  that 
he  used  the  word,  which  had  not  yet  received  a  technical 
sense,  and  only  meant  etymologically  "  supporters  of  the 
crown."  The  number,  one  hundred  and  twenty,  is  more 
than  we  should  have  expected,  and  can  receive  no  support 
from  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces  of  Ahasuerus 
(Esth.  i.  1),  who  ruled  from  Ethiopia  to  India,  whereas 
Darius  reigned  only  over  the  realm  of  the  Chaldees  ;  we 
must  view  it  either  as  resulting  from  Oriental  ostentation, 
or  as  an  anticipation  of  the  maxim,  Divide  et  impera.  Each 
"  satrap  "  must  have  ruled  over  a  comparatively  small  dis- 
trict. They  may  have  been  the  head  men  of  tribes,  and  if 
so,  it  is  pertinent  to  remark  that  the  tribes  of  the  Euphrates 

*  So  Syncellus,  Jackson,  Marshani,  and  Winer, 
t  So  Josephus,  Prideaux,  Hales,  Hengstenbcrg,  Von  Lengerke, 
and  others. 

t  Herodotus  declares  that  Astyages  had  no  male  offspring  (i., 
§  ".Speaker's  Commentary"  on  Dan.  v.  31. 


92  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

valley  were  exceedingly  numerous.  Twenty-four  tribes  of 
Lower  Babylonia  collected  on  one  occasion  to  assist  Susub  ;* 
in  the  middle  region  Tiglath-Pileser  II.  claims  to  have  re- 
duced thirty-four  tribes  ;  |  the  upper  regions  had  at  least  as 
many.  An  ancient  geographical  list  seems  to  divide  Baby- 
lonia proper  into  seventy-three  districts. £  If  Cyrus  intrusted 
to  Darius  the  Euphrates  valley  up  to  Carchemish,  and  the 
regions  of  Co3lesyria  and  Phoenicia,  we  can  quite  understand 
the  number  of  the  "  princes  "  (i.e.,  satraps)  being  a  hundred 
and  twenty. 

"  Now,  O  king,  establish  the  decree,  and  sign  the  writing,  that  it 
be  not  changed  according  to  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  which 
altereth  not." — DAN.  vi.  8. 

"  Know,  O  king,  that  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  is, 
That  no  degree  nor  statute  which  the  king  establisheth  may  be 
changed." — Ver.  15. 

The  inviolability  of  Medo-Persian  law,  and  the  moral 
impossibility  that  the  king,  having  signed  a  decree,  or  in  any 
way  pledged  his  word  to  a  matter,  could  afterwards  retract, 
or  alter  it,  which  are  so  strongly  asserted  in  these  passages, 
and  again  so  markedly  implied  in  the  Book  of  Esther,  receive 
illustration  from  two  narratives  which  have  come  down 
to  us  on  the  authority  of  Herodotus.  "  Cambyses,"  he  tells 
us,*  "  the  son  of  Cyrus,  was  anxious  to  marry  one  of  his 
sisters ;  but,  as  he  knew  that  it  was  an  uncommon  thing, 
and  not  the  custom  of  the  Persians  previously  he  summoned 
a  meeting  of  the  royal  judges,  and  put  the  question  to  them, 
whether  there  was  any  law  which  allowed  a  brother,  if  he 
wished  it,  to  marry  his  sister?  Now  the  royal  judges,"  he 
remarks,  "  are  certain  picked  men  among  the  Persians,  who 
hold  their  office  for  life,  or  until  they  are  found  guilty 
of  some  misconduct.  By  them  justice  is  administered  in 
Persia,  and  they  are  the  interpreters  of  the  old  laws,  all  dis- 
puted cases  of  law  being  referred  to  their  decision.  When 
('.•mibyses,  therefore,  put  his  question  to  these  judges,  they 
gave  him  an  answer  which  was  at  once  true  and  safe — 'they 
did  not  find  any  law,'  they  said,  '  allowing  a  brother  to  take 
his  sister  to  wife  ;  but  they  found  a  law  that  the  king  of  the 
Persians  might  do  whatever  he  pleased.'  And  so  they 

•  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  p.  47 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  v..  p.  101.  J  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  pp.  105-7. 

§  Herod.,  ili.  31. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  93 

neither  warped  the  law  through  fear  of  Cambyses,  nor  ruined 
them  selves  by  over-stiffly  maintaining  the  law  ;  but  they 
brought  another  quite  distinct  law  to  the  king's  help,  which 
allowed  him  to  have  his  wish.  Cambyses,  therefore,  married 
the  object  of  his  love  ;  and  no  long  time  afterwards  he  took' 
to  wife  also  another  sister."  Still  more  closely  illustrative 
of  the  perplexity  of  Darius,  and  his  inability  to  escape  from 
the  entanglement  in  which  he  found  hinself,  is  the  following 
anecdote  concerning  Xerxes,  one  of  the  most  selfwilled  and 
despotic  of  all  the  Persian  monarchs  :  "  Amestris,  the  wife  of 
Xerxes,  having  a  cause  of  quarrel,  as  she  thought,  against  the 
wife  of  a  Persian  prince  named  Masistes,  determined  to  com- 
pass her  death.  She  waited,  therefore,  till  her  husband  gave 
the  great  royal  banquet — a  feast  which  took  place  once  every 
year — in  celebration  of  the  king's  birthday,  and  then  made 
request  of  Xerxes  that  he  would  please  to  give  her,  as  her 
present,  the  wife  of  Masistes.  But  he  at  first  refused ;  for 
it  seemed  to  him  shocking  and  monstrous  to  give  into  the 
power  of  another  a  woman  who  was  not  only  his  brother's 
wife,  but  was  likewise  wholly  guiltless  in  the  matter  which 
had  enraged  Amestris  ;  and  he  was  the  more  unwilling  inas- 
much as  he  well  knew  the  intention  with  which  his  wife 
had  preferred  her  request.  After  a  time,  however,  he  was 
wearied  by  her  importunity,  and,  feeling  constrained  by  the 
law  of  the  feast,  which  required  that  no  one  who  asked  a 
boon  that  day  at  the  king's  board  should  be  denied  his 
request,  he  yielded,  but  with  a  very  ill  will,  and  gave  the 
woman  into  her  power."  *  Amestris,  as  he  had  expected, 
caused  the  woman  to  be  put  to  death,  first  mutilating  her  in 
a  most  barbarous  manner. 

It  is  indicative  of  the  complete  knowledge  that  the  writer 
has  of  the  change  which  Babylon  underwent  when  she  passed 
from  the  nncontroled  despotism  of  the  old  native  kings 
to  the  comparatively  limited  monarchy  of  Persia  that  he 
exhibits  to  us  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Belsha/zar  as  wholly 
unrestrained  by  those  about  them,  or  admitting,  at  the  most, 
domestic  counsels,  while  he  represents  Darius  as  trammeled 
by  Medo-Persian  law,  a  passive  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
his  councilors,  forced  to  do  an  act  against  which  his  soul 
revolted,  and  only  venturing  upon  a  vindication  of  his  own 
authority  when  he  had  been  the  witness  of  a  stupendous 
miracle  (ch.  vi.  14-24). 

*  Herod.,  ix.  110,  111. 


94  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

"  The  king  spake  and  said  unto  Daniel,  O  Daniel,  servant  of  the 
living  God,  is  thy  God,  whom  thou  servest  continually,  able  to  deliver 
thee  from  the  lions  ?  " — DAN.  vi.  20. 

"  Then  King  Darius  wrote  unto  all  people,  nations,  and  languages, 
that  dwell  in  all  the  earth:  Peace  be  multiplied  unto  you.  I  make  a 
decree,  That  in  every  dominion  of  my  kingdom  men  tremble  and  fear 
before  the  God  of  Daniel  :  for  He  is  the  living  God,  and  steadfast  for 
ever,  and  His  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed,  and  His 
dominion  shall  be  even  unto  the  end,  He  delivereth  and  rescueth, 
and  He  worketh  signs  and  wonders  in  heaven,  and  earth,  who  hath 
delivered  Daniel  from  the  power  of  the  lions." — DAN.  vi.  25-27. 

As  the  Medo-Persic  kings  introduced  some  novelty  into 
the  political  situation  when  they  became  the  rulers  of  Baby- 
lon, so  they  further  introduced  a  more  considerable  religious 
change.  The  ordinary  Babylonian  system  is  sufficiently  in- 
dicated in  the  account  of  Belshazzar's  feast.  It  was  grossly 
polytheistic  and  idolatrous.  It  recognized  a  hierarchy  of 
gods  as  ruling  in  the  heavenly  sphere,*  and  it  worshiped 
them  under  the  form  of  images  f  in  gold,  and  silver,  and 
brass,  and  iron,  and  wood,  and  stone  (eh.  vi.  4,  23).  The 
religion  of  the  Medo-Persians  Vas  very  different.  It  ad- 
mitted of  no  use  of  images. |  It  did  not  absolutely  reject 
the  employment  of  the  word  god  in  the  plural  ;  §  but  it  ac- 
knowledged one  god  as  infinitely  superior  to  all  others,  and 
viewed  him  as  alone  truly  "  living,"  as  alone  the  fount  and 
origin  of  all  life,  whether  earthly  or  spiritual.  The  Ahura- 
Mazda  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  was  a  god  of  a  very 
spiritual  and  exalted  character.  He  had  made  the  celestial 
bodies,  earth,  water,  and  trees,  all  good  creatures,  and  all 
good,  true  things.  He  was  good,  holy,  pure,  true,  the  holy 
god,  the  holiest,  the  essence  of  truth,  the  father  of  all  truth, 
the  best  being  of  all,  the  master  of  purity.  He  was  su- 
premely happy,  possessing  every  blessing — health,  wealth, 
virtue,  wisdom,  immortality.  || 

These  facts,  which  are  known  to  us  especially  through 
the  Zendavesta,  the  sacred  book  of  the  ancient  Modes  and 
Persians,  throw  considerable  light  on  the  picture  drawn  of 
the  religion  of  the  Babylonian  court  under  Darius  the  Mede, 
compared  with  that  of  the  same  court  almost  immediately 
before,  under  Belshazzar.  Belshazzar  allowed  that  "the 
spirit  of  the  holt/  gods"  might  be  in  Daniel,  and  that  there, 

•  "  Ancient  Monarchies."  voL  i.  pp.  70-92;  vol.  ii.,  pp.  224-230. 
t  Ibid.,  vol  ii.,  p.  226.  t  Herod.,  L  131. 

§  See  Pusey's  "  lectures  on  Daniel,"  pp.  529-539. 
U  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  46-7. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  95 

fore  his  words  might  be  deserving  of  attention.  He  praised 
"  the  gods,"  and  recognized  the  duty  of  worshiping  them 
as  embodied  in  their  images  of  wood  and  stone  and  metal. 
In  the  account  given  of  Darius  the  Mede,  idolatry  has,  on 
the  other  hand,  no  place.  Polytheism  of  a  kind  just  makes 
its  appearance  in  the  expression,  "  Whosoever  shall  ask  a 
petition  of  any  god"  (ch.  vi.  7.  12)  ;  but  monotheism  is  pre- 
dominant. Darius,  before  knowing  if  a  miracle  has  been 
performed  or  no,  recognizes  Daniel  as  a  "  servant  of  the  liv- 
ing God"  (ver.  20) ;  and  afterwards,  when  assured  of  Daniel's 
deliverance,  praises  and  exalts  "the  living  God  "  as  one  "who 
is  steadfast  forever  and  ever,"  whose  "  kingdom  shall  not  be 
destroyed,"  but  shall  continue  "  even  unto  the  end  ; "  "  who 
delivereth  and  rescueth,"  and  "  worketh  signs  and  wonders 
in  heaven  and  earth  "  (vers.  26,  27).  These  words,  which 
would  seem  strange  in  the  mouth  of  most  heathens,  are 
natural  enough  in  those  of  a  Zoroastrian,  who,  while  allow- 
ing a  certain  qualified  worship  of  the  sun,  and  of  the  gods 
presiding  over  his  own  family,*  would  recognize  as  infinitely 
above  these,  placed  in  a  category  apart  and  by  himself,  the 
great  giver  of  life,  Ahura-Mazda  the  true  "  living  God,"  the 
Creator,  the  Preserver,  the  Deliverer  from  evil,  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  to  whom  all  others  were  subordinate,  the  one  and  only 
ruler  of  heaven  and  earth. 

It  does  not  interfere  with  this  view  that  Cyrus,  and  as 
his  vice-gerent,  Darius,  tolerated — nay,  even  patronized  to 
some  extent — the  Babylonian  religion. f  This  they  did  as 
politic  rulers  over  subjects  likely  to  be  disaffected.  But  in 
their  courts,  among  their  privy-councilors,  they  would  act 
differently.  There  they  would  show  their  true  feelings. 
Even  in  a  proclamation  addressed  to  all  their  subjects,  as 
that  of  Darius  was  (ver.  25),  thev  would  not  scruple  to  show 
their  own  feelings — as  Darius  Hystaspis  and  his  successors 
did  in  all  their  rock-inscriptions — so  long  as  they  abstained 
from  any  direct  disparagement  of  their  subjects'  gods,  and 
merely  required  the  acknowledgment  of  an  additional  deity 
besides  those  of  the  popular  Pantheons. 

*"Behist.  Inscript.,"  col.  iv.,  par.  12,  13;  Pusey's  "Daniel,"  p. 
631.  note  8. 

t  "  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,"  vol.  xii.,  pp.  88-d. 


96  EGYPT  AND  BAB YL ON. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

NOTICES    OF     BABYLON     IX     DANIEL,    ISAIAH,   JEREMIAH,    AND 

EZEKIEL. 

IT  is  proposed  in  the  present  chapter  to  bring  together 
the  scattered  notices  in  Scripture  bearing  upon  the  general 
condition  of  Babylon,  the  character  of  its  government,  and 
the  manners  and  customs  of  its  people  ;  and  to  inquire  how 
far  profane  history  confirms  or  illustrates  what  Scripture 
tells  us  on  these  matters.  A  certain  number  of  the  points 
have  necessarily  been  touched  in  some  of  the  earlier  chapters 
of  the  present  volume,  and  thus  it  will  be  impossible  to  avoid 
a  certain  amount  of  repetition  ;  but  the  endeavor  will  be 
made  to  pass  lightly  over  such  topics  as  have  been  already 
put. before  the  reader,  and  thus  to  reduce  the  repetition  to  a 
minimum. 

We  have  noticed  indirectly,  in  connection  with  its  com- 
merce, the  great  wealth  of  Babylon.  Isaiah  calls  it  emphat- 
ically "  the  golden  city  "  (Isa.  xiv.  4),  or  "  the  exactress  of 
gold,"  as  the  passage  may  be  rendered  literally.  Jeremiah 
compares  Babylon  to  "  a  golden  cup  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  " 
(Jer.  li.  7),  and  calls  her  "  abundant  in  treasures  "  (ib.  ver. 
13),  declaring  moreover  that,  at  her  fall,  all  those  who  par- 
took of  her  spoil  should  be  "  satisfied  "  (ib.  1.  10).  In  Daniel 
the  Babylonian  kingdom  is  typified  by  the  "  head  of  gold  " 
(  Dan.  ii.  38),  and  the  opulence  of  the  monarch  is  shown  by 
the  enormous  size  of  the  image,  or  rather  pillar,  of  gold 
which  he  set  up,  a  pillar  ninety  feet  high  by  nine  feet 
wide  (ib.  iii.  1  ).  The  inscriptions  are  in  accordance.  Nebu- 
chadnezzar  tells  us  that  he  brought  into  the  treasury  of 
Merodach  at  Babylon  "  wares,  and  ornaments  for  the  women, 
silver,  molten  gold,  precious  stones,  metal,  umritgana  and 
cedar  wood,  a  splendid  abundance,  riches  and  sources  of 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL,  ISAIAH,  ETC.  97 

joy."  *  The  temple  of  Merodach  he  "  made  conspicuous 
with  fine  linen,  and  covered  its  seats  with  splendid  gold,  with 
lapis  lazuli,  and  blocks  of  alabaster."!  Its  portico  "  with 
brilliant  gold  he  caused  men  to  cover ;  the  lower  threshold, 
the  cedar  awnings  with  gold  and  precious  stones  he  embell- 
ished.'^ And  the  rest  of  his  sacred  buildings  were  adorned 
similarly.! 

The  primary  source  of  the  wealth  of  Babylon  was  its 
agriculture.  Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  yield  of  grain  was 
commonly  two  hundred-fold,  and  in  some  instances  three 
hundred-fold.  ||  Pliny  asserts  that  the  wheat-crop  was 
reaped  twice,  and  afterwards  afforded  good  keep  for  beasts.^ 
When  Babylonia  became  a  province  of  the  Persian  Empire, 
it  paid  a  tribute  of  a  thousand  talents  of  silver,**  and  at 
the  same  time  furnished  the  entire  provision  of  the  court 
during  one  third  of  the  year.ff  Notwithstanding  these  calls 
upon  them,  its  satraps  became  enormously  wealthy. $t  To 
the  wealth  obtained  by  agriculture  is  to  be  added  that  de- 
rived from  commerce,  and  from  conquest.  Both  of  these 
points  have  already  engaged  our  attention,  and  we  have 
seen  reason  to  believe  that  the  gains  made  were  in  each  case 
very  great.  Scripture  makes  allusion  to  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  the  country,  when  it  enumerates  among  the  chief 
calamities  of  the  final  invasion  the  "  cutting  off  of  the  sower, 
and  of  him  that  handled  the  sickle  in  the  time  of  harvest  " 
(Jer,  1.  16)  ;  and  again  when  it  makes  special  mention  of  the 
"  opening  of  the  granaries  "  as  a  feature  in  the  sack  of  the 
city  (ib.  ver.  26).  The  commercial  wealth  is  implied  in  the 
description  of  Babylon  as  "  a  city  of  merchants  "  (Ezek.  xvii. 
4),  and  of  Babylonia  as  "  a  land  of  traffick  "  (ib) .  The  wealth 
derived  from  conquest  receives  notice  in  the  statement  of 
Habakkuk,  "  Because  thou  hast  spoiled  many  nations,  all  the 
remnant  of  the  people  shall  spoil  thee  "  (Hab.  ii.  8),  and  is 
illustrated  by  the  narrative  of  Kings  (2  Kings,  xxv.  13-17). 
Nebuchadnezzar  alludes  to  it  when  he  says,  "  A  palace  for 
my  royalty  in  the  midst  of  the  city  of  Babylon  I  built  .  .  .  tall 
cedars  for  its  porticoes  I  fitted  .  . .  Avith  silver,  gold,  and 
precious  stones  I  overlaid  its  gates  .  .  .  I  valiantly  collected 
spoils;  as  an  adornment  of  the  house  were  they  arranged 

*  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  v.,  pp.  116-7.  t  Ibid.,  p.  117. 

J  Ibid.,  pp.  119-20.  §  Ibid.,  vol.  vii.,  pp.  72,  75-6. 

II  Herod.,  i.  193.  T  Plin.  H.N.,  xviii.  17.        **  Herod.,  iii.  92. 

tt  Herod.,  i.  192.  tt  Ibid. 


98  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

and  collected  within  it ;  trophies,  abundance,  royal  treasures, 
I  accumulated  and  gathered  together  ;  "  *  and  again,  "  Gath- 
erings from  great  lands  I  made  /  and,  like  the  hills,  I  up- 
raised its  head."  f 

Among  the  spoil  which  was  regarded  as  of  especial  value 
were  scented  woods,  more  particularly  cedars,  and  perhaps 
pines,  from  Lebanon  and  Amanus.  Isaiah,  in  describing 
the  general  rejoicing  at  the  fall  of  the  Babylonian  Empire, 
remarks,  "  The  whole  earth  is  at  rest  and  is  quiet ;  they  break 
forth  into  singing :  yea,  the  fir-trees  rejoice  at  thee,  and  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon,  saying,  Since  thou  art  laid  down,  no 
feller  is  come  up  against  us  "  (Isa.  xiv.  7,  8).  The  cuneiform 
inscriptions  show  that  the  practice  of  cutting  timber  in  the 
Syrian  mountains  and  conveying  it  to  Mesopotamia,  which 
had  been  begun  by  th6  Assyrian  monarchs  (2  Kings  xix.  23), 
was  continued  by  the  Babylonians.  Nebuchadnezzar  ex- 
pressly states  that  "  the  best  of  his  pine-trees  from  Lebanon, 
with  tall  babil-wood,  he  brought ; "  %  and  Nabonidus  tells  us 
that,  in  his  third  year,  he  went  to  "  Amananu,  a  mountainous 
country,  where  tall  pines  grew,  and  brought  a,  part  of  them 
to  the  midst  of  Babylon."  § 

The  great  size  of  Babylon,  and  the  immense  height  and 
thickness  of  its  walls,  have  been  dwelt  upon  at  some  length 
in  a  former  chapter.  ||  Jeremiah  is  particularly  clear  upon 
these  points,  though,  naturally,  he  enters  into  no  details. 
' "  Though  Babylon  should  mount  up  to  heaven"  he  says, 
"  and  though  she  should  fortify  the  height  of  her  strength, 
yet  from  me  shall  spoilers  come  unto  her,  saith  the  Lord" 
(Jer.  li.  53)  ;  and  again,  "  The  broad  walls  of  Babylon  shall 
be  utterly  broken,  and  her  high  gates  shall  be  burned  with 
fire  "  (ib.  ver.  58)  ;  and,  with  respect  to  the  size  of  the  city, 
"  One  post  shall  run  to  meet  another,  and  one  messenger  to 
meet  another,  to  show  the  king  of  Babylon  that  his  city  is 
taken  at  one  end  "  (ib.  ver.  31). 

The  government  of  Babylon  by  a  despotic  monarch,  the 
sole  source  of  all  power  and  authority,  and  the  absolute 
master  of  the  lives  and  liberties  of  his  subjects,  which  the 
Babylonian  notices  in  Scripture  set  before  us  consistently, 
and  which  appears  most  markedly  in  Daniel  (ch.  ii.  12,  48, 

•  "  Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  v.,  p.  181. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  133.  \  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  p.  119. 

§  "  Transactions  of  the  Bibl.  Archeeolog.  Society,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  164 
||  See  above,  cb.  vi. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL,  ISAIAH,  ETC.  99 

l 

49 ;  iii.  6,  15,  29),  is  in  complete  accordance  with  all  that  pro- 
fane history  teaches  on  the  subject.  Nebuchadnezzar  claims 
in  his  inscriptions  to  rule  by  Divine  right.  The  sceptre  of 
righteousness  is  delivered  into  his  hand  that  therewith  he 
may  sustain  men.*  From  him  alone  commands  issue ;  by 
him  alone  all  works  are  accomplished.  No  subject  obtains 
any  mention  as  even  helping  him.  The  inscriptions  of  Neri- 
glissar  and  Nabonidus  are  of  nearly  the  same  character. 
And  the  classical  accounts  agree.  It  is  clear  that  in  Semitic 
Babylon,  prior  to  the  Medo-Persic  conquest,  there  was  no 
noble  class  possessing  independent  powrer,  or  any  right  of 
controling  the  king. 

There  was,  however,  a  learned  class,  which  possessed 
a  certain  distinction,  which  furnished  priests  to  the  chief 
temples,  and  claimed  to  interpret  dreams  and  omens,  and  to 
foretell  the  future  by  means  of  astrology.  Herodotus  f  and 
Diodorus  $  give  this  class  the  name  of  "  Chaldasans,"  a  nom- 
enclature with  which  the  Book  of  Daniel  may  be  said 
to  agree,  if  we  accept  the  identification  of  "  Chaldajans  " 
with  Casdim.  At  any  rate,  the  book  testifies  to  the  exist- 
ence of  the  class,  and  to  the  functions  which  belonged  to  it, 
as  also  does  Isaiah,  when  he  says  of  Babylon,  "Let  now 
the  astrologers,  the  star-gazers,  the  monthly  prognosticators, 
stand  up  and  save  thee  from  these  things  which  shall  come 
upon  thee  "  (Isa.  xlvii.  13).  The  title  Rab-Mag,  which  may 
be  suspected  to  have  belonged  to  the  chief  of  the  Chalda?an 
order,  is  found  both  in  Scripture  (Jer.  xxxix.  3,  13)  and  in 
the  inscriptions.  It  has  been  translated  "  Chief  of  the 
Magi ;  "  $  but  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  believe  that 
Magianism  was  in  any  way  recognized  by  the  Babylonians 
of  the  independent  empire. 

There  was  also  in  Babylonia  a  numerous  class  of  officials 
— a  "  bureaucracy,"  as  it  has  been  called — whereby  the 
government  of  the  country  was  actually  carried  on.  In  some 
places,  the  native  sovereigns  were  indeed  allowed  to  retain 
their  authority  for  a  time  (2  Kings  xxiv.  1, 17),  and  the  Baby- 
lonian monarch  could  thus  be  called  with  propriety  a  "king 
of  kings  "  (Dan.  ii.  37  ;  Ezek.  xxvi.  7  ) ;  but  the  general 
system  was  to  replace  kings  by  "  governors  "  (2  Kings  xxv. 
22,  23;  Berosus,  Fr.  14)  or  "  princes"  (Dan.  ii.  2),  and  to 

•  "  Records  of  th*Past,"  vol.  v.,  p.  114. 

t  Herod.,  i.  181,  183.  }  Diod.,  Sic.,  ii.  29i 

§  Speaker's  Commentary  on  Jeremiah,  xxxix.  3. 


100  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

employ  under  these  last  a  great  variety  of  subordinate* 
The  Babylonian  contract  tablets  show  at  least  eight  or  ten 
names  of  officers  under  government,  of  different  ranks  and 
gradations,*  correspondent  (in  a  general  way)  to  the  "  princes, 
governors,  captains,  judges,  treasurers,  counselors,  sheriffs, 
and  rulers  of  provinces  "  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  and  thus  in- 
dicate sufficiently  the  bureaucratic  character  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  general  character  of  the  Babylonian  court,  as  depicted 
in  Daniel,  and  its  agreement  with  what  we  know  from  other 
sources,  has  been  already  noticed.  But  the  following  illus- 
trations may  be  added  to  those  already  given.  The  high 
position  of  the  queen-mother  at  the  court  of  Belshazzar  re- 
ceives illustration  from  the  mention  of  "  the  mother  of  the 
king  "  in  the  tablet  of  Nabonidus,  and  from  the  fact  that  at 
her  death  there  was  a  court  mourning  of  three  days'  dura- 
tion.! The  polygamy  of  the  monarchs  (Dan.  v.  2,  3)  accords 
with  what  we  hear  of  the  "  concubines  "  of  Saul-Mugina.J 
The  employment  of  eunuchs  (2  Kings  xx.  10 ;  Dan.  i.  3) 
agrees  with  Herod,  iii.  92;  that  of  music  (Isa.  xiv.  11 ;  Dan. 
iii.  5,  7)  with  passages  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions,  which 
speak  of  musicians  and  musical  instruments  as  in  vogue  at 
the  courts  of  other  neighboring  kings  ;§  that  of  "  sweet 
odors  "  in  the  way  of  religious  service  (Dan.  ii.  46)  with 
what  Herodotus  relates  of  the  burning  of  frankincense  on 
sacrificial  occasions.  ||  The  long  detention  in  prison  of  of- 
fenders against  the  dignity  of  the  crown,  of  which  Isaiah 
speaks,  when  he  says  of  the  Babylonian  monarch  that  he 
"  opened  not  the  door  of  his  prisoners"  (Isa,  xiv.  17),  and 
which  is  exemplified  by  the  confinement  of  Jehoiachin 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  for  the  extraordinary  term  of  thirty- 
seven  years  (2  Kings  xxv.  27),  receives  illustration  from  the 
story  of  Parsondas,  as  told  by  Nicholas  of  Damascus.  Par- 
sum  las  was  a  Mede,  who  desired  to  become  king  of  Babylon 
under  Artaeus,  and  obtained  from  him  a  promise  of  the  king- 
dom. Nannarus,  the  actual  monarch,  hearing  of  it,  got  Par- 
sondas into  his  power,  and  kept  him  a  prisoner  at  his  court 
for  seven  years,  even  then  releasing  him,  not  of  his  own  free- 
will, but  on  the  application  of  Artaeus,  and  under  the  appre- 

•  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.,  pp.  91-108;  vol.  xi.,  pp.  91-8. 
t  "  Transactions  of  the  Bib.    Archueolog.  Society,"  vol.   vii.,  pp. 
158-9.  |  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  p.  77. 

II  'Ibid.,  vol.  ix.,  pp.  54,  55.  §  Herod.,  i.  183. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL,  ISAIAH,  ETC.  101 

tension  that,  if  he  refused,  Artaeus  would  make  war  upon 
him,  and  deprive  him  of  his  sovereignty.* 

One  of  the  most  surprising  points  in  the  representation  of 
Babylonian  customs  which  the  Scriptural  account  of  the 
people  brings  before  us  is  the  severity  and  abnormal  charac- 
ter of  the  punishments  which  were  in  use  among  them.  To 
burn  men  to  death  in  a  furnace  of  fire,  as  Nebuchadnezzar 
proposed  to  do  with  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego 
(Dan.  iii.  15-23),  is .  so  extraordinary  a  proceeding  as  to 
seem,  at  first  sight,  well-nigh  incredible.  To  have  men 
"  cut  to  pieces,"  which  was  the  threat  held  out  by  the  same 
monarch  on  two  occasions  (Dan.  ii.  5  ;  iii.  29),  is  almost  as 
remarkable  a  mode  of  executing  them.  It  might  mitigate, 
perhaps,  the  feeling  of  incredulity  with  which  the  ordinary 
European  hears  of  such  terrible  punishments  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  punitive  systems  of  other  Oriental  kingdoms. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  practice  of  the  Persians : — 

"  We  may  notice  as  ablot  upon  the  Persian  system  and  character" 
(I  have  elsewhere  ohserved)  "the  cruelty  and  barharity  which  was 
exhibited  in  the  regular  and  legal  punishments  which  were  assigned 
to  crinu  s  and  offences.  The  criminal  code  was  exceedingly  severe. 
The  modes  of  execution  were  also,  for  the  most  part,  unnecessarily 
cruel.  Prisoners  were  punished  by  having  their  heads  placed  upon* 
broad  stone,  and  then  having  their  faces  crushed,  and  their  brains 
beaten  out,  by  repeated  blows  with  another  stone.  Kavishers  and 
rebels  were  put  to  death  by  crucifixion.  The  horrible  punishment  of 
'the  boat'  seems  to  have  been  no  individual  tyrant's  conception,  but 
a  recognized  and  legal  form  of  execution.  The  same  maybe  said  also 
of  burying  alive.  And  the  Persian  secondary  punishments  were  also, 
for  the  most  part,  exceedingly  barbarous."  t 

But,  besides  this,  there  is  direct  evidence  that  the  actual 
punishments  mentioned  as  in  use  among  the  Babylonians  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  time  were  known  to  the  Mesopotamians 
of  the  period,  and  were  upon  occasions  applied  to  criminals. 
Asshur-bani-pal,  the  son  of  Esar-haddon,  declares,  with  re- 
spect to  Saul-Mugina,  his  own  brother,  whom  he  had  made 
king  of  Babylon,  but  who  had  revolted  against  him — "  Saul- 
Mugina,  my  rebellious  brother,  who  made  war  with  me,  in 
the  fierce,  burning  fire  they  threw  him,  and  destroved  his 
life."  t  Of  another  rebel,  Dunanu,  chief  of  theGambalu,  he 
also  states — "  Dunanu  in  Nineveh,  over  a  furnace  they  placed 
him,  and  consumed  him  entirely  "§  Nay,  so  natural  does 
he  consider  it  that  rebels  should,  when  taken,  suffer  death 

*Nic.  Dam..  Fr.  11.        t  "  Ancie'nt  Monarchies. "vol.  ii.,  p.  364. 

|  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  p.  77.         §  Ibid.,  vol.  ix.,  p.  56. 


102  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

in  this  way,  that,  when  he  has  to  notice  the  escape  of  a  cen 
tain  number  of  Saul-Mugina's  adherents,  who  had  betaken 
themselves  to  flight,  he  expresses  himself  thus — "  The  people, 
whom  Saul-Mugina,  my  rebellious  brother,  had  caused  to 
join  him,  and  who,  for  their  evil  deeds,  deserved  death  .  .  . 
they  did  not  burn  in  the  fire  with  Saul-Mugina  their  lord  "  * 
— implying  that,  if  they  had  been  caught,  this  would  have 
been  the  mode  of  their  execution.  Again,  of  other  rebels, 
kept  apparently  in  some  stone-quarries  from  the  time  of 
Sennacherib,  his  grandfather,  Asshur-bani-pal  tells  us,  "  I 
threw  those  men  again  into  that  pit ;  I  cut  off  their  limbs, 
and  caused  them  to  be  eaten  by  dogs,  bears,  eagles,  vultures, 
birds  of  heaven,  and  fishes  of  the  deep."  f 

The  liberty  and  publicity  allowed  to  women  in  Baby- 
lonia, so  contrary  to  usual  Oriental  custom,  which  appears 
in  the  Book  of  Daniel  (ch.  v.  2,  3,  10),  is  illustrated  by  the 
traditions  concerning  Semiramis  and  Nitocris,  and  also  by 
the  account,  which  Herodotus  gives,  of  certain  Babylonian 
customs  of  a  very  unusual  character.  "  Once  a  year," 
Herodotus  tells  us,  "  the  marriageable  maidens  of  every  vil- 
lage in  the  country  were  required  to  assemble  together  into 
one  place,  while  all  the  men  stood  round  them  in  a  circle. 
Then  a  herald  (cf.  Dan.  iii.  4)  called  up  the  damsels  one  by 
one  and  offered  them  for  sale  .  .  .  All  who  liked  might 
come  even  from  distant  villages  and  bid  for  the  women."  J 
Again  he  says,  "The  Babylonians  have  one  most  shameful 
custom.  Every  woman  born  in  the  country  must,  once  in 
her  life,  go  and  sit  down  in  the  precinct  of  Venus  and  there 
consort  with  a  stranger.  Many  of  the  wealthier  sort,  who 
are  too  proud  to  mix  with  the  others,  drive  in  covered  car- 
riages to  the  precinct,  followed  by  a  goodly  train  of  atten- 
dants, and  there  take  their  station.  Where  they  sit  there  is 
always  a  great  crowd,  some  coming  and  others  going.  Lines 
of  cord  mark  out  paths  in  all  directions ;  and  the  strangers 
nass  along  them  to  make  their  choice.  .  .  .  Some  women 
r.  ave  remained  three  or  four  years  in  the  precinct."  §  The 
.statements  of  Herodotus  on  these  points  are  confirmed  by 
other  writers,  and  there  is  ample  reason  to  believe  that  the 
seclusion  of  the  sex,  so  general  in  other  parts  of  the  East, 
was  abhorrent  to  Babylonian  ideas.  j| 

«  "  Records  of  the  Past.vol.  i.,  1.  s.  c.  t  Ibid.,  p.  78. 

t  Herod.,  i.,  106.  §  Ibid.,  i.  19ft 

II  See  the  author's  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  223. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL,  ISAIAH,  ETC.  103 

The  free  use  of  wine  in  Babylonia,  not  only  at  royal 
banquets  (Dan.  v.  1-4),  but  in  the  ordinary  diet  of  the  upper 
classes  (ib.  1.  5-16),  is  what  we  should  scarcely  have  ex- 
pected in  so  hot  a  region,  and  one  wholly  unsuited  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  vine.  Yet  it  is  quite  certain  from  profane 
sources  that  the  fact  was  as  represented  in  Scripture. 
Herodotus  tells  us  of  a  regular  trade  between  Armenia  and 
Babylon  down  the  course  of  the  Euphrates,  in  which  the 
boats  used  were  sometimes  of  as  much  as  five  thousand 
talents  burden.*  He  declares  that  the  staple  of  the  trade 
was  wine,  which,  not  being  produced  in  the  country,  was 
regulasly  imported  from  abroad  year  after  year.  In  the 
story  of  Parsondas  we  find  Nannarus  abundantly  supplied 
with  wine,  and  liberal  in  its  use.f  The  Chaldaean  account  of 
the  Deluge  represents  Hasisadra  as  collecting  it  "  in  recept- 
acles, like  the  waters  of  a  river,"  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  were  about  to  enter  the  ark,J  and  as  pouring  "seven 
jugs"  of  it  in  libation,  when,  on  the  subsidence  of  the  waters, 
he  quitted  his  shelter.  §  Quintus  Curtius  relates  that  the 
Babolonians  of  Alexander's  time  were  fond  of  drinking  wine 
to  excess ;  their  banquets  were  magnificent,  and  generally 
ended  in  drunkenness.  || 

The  employment  of  war-chariots  by  the  Babylonians, 
which  is  asserted  by  Jeremiah  (Jer.  iv.  14  ;  1.  37),  in  marked 
contrast  with  his  descriptions  of  the  Nedo-Persians,  who 
are  represented  as  "  riders  upon  horses  "  (ib.  ver.  42 ;  com- 
pare ch.  li.  27),  receives  confirmation  from  the  Assyrian  in- 
scriptions, which  repeatedly  mention  the  chariot  force  as  an 
important  part  of  the  Babylonian  army,1[  and  is  also  noticed 
by  Polyhistor,  **  Their  skill  with  the  bow,  also  noted  by  the 
same  prophet  (ch.  iv.  29  ;  v.  16;  vi.  23;  li.  3),  has  the  sup- 
port of  JEschyhis,ft  and  is  in  accordance  with  the  monu- 
ments, which  show  us  the  bow  as  the  favorite  weapon  of  the 
monarchs.  Jt 

The  pronounced  idolatry  prevalent  in  Babylon  under  the 
later  kings,  which  Scripture  sets  forth  in  such  strong  terms 

*  Herod.,  i.  194.  t  See  Nic.  Dam.,  Fr.  11. 

J  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vii.,  p.  137. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  140.  II  Q.  Curt.,  v.  1. 

V  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  p.  22;  vol.  vii.,  p.  59;  vol.  xi.,  p. 
55. 

**  See  the  "  Fragm,  Hist.  Gnec."  of  C.  Muller,  vol.  ii. 
tt  yEschyl   "  Pers.,"  1,  55. 
tl  See  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  199;  vol.  ii.,  p.  214. 


104  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

(Jer.  1.  2,  38 ;  li.  17,  47,  52 ;  Dan.  v.  4),  scarcely  requires  the 
confirmation  which  is  lent  to  it  by  the  inscriptions  and  by 
profane  writers.  Idolatrous  systems  had  possession  of  all 
Western  Asia  at  the  time,  and  the  Babylonian  idolatry  was 
not  of  a  much  grosser  type  than  the  Assyrian,  the  Syrian, 
or  the  Phoenician.  But  it  is  perhaps  worthy  of  remark  that 
the  particular  phase  of  the  religion,  which  the  great  Hebrew 
prophets  set  forth,  is  exactly  that  found  by  the  remains  to 
have  characterized  the  later  empire.  In  the  works  of  these 
writers  three  Babylonian  gods  only  are  particularized  by 
name — Bel,  Nebo,  Merodach — and  in  the  monuments  of  the 
period  these  three  deities  are  exactly  those  which  obtain  the 
most  frequent  mention  and  hold  the  most  prominent  place. 
The  kings  of  the  later  empire,  with  a  single  exception,  had 
names  which  placed  them  under  the  protection  of  one  or 
other  of  these  three  ;  and  their  inscriptions  show  that  to  these 
three  they  paid,  at  any  rate,  especial  honor.  Merodach 
holds  the  first  place  in  the  memorials  of  their  reigns  left  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  Neriglissar  ;  Bel  and  Nebo  bear  off  the 
palm  in  the  inscriptions  of  Nabonidus.  While  "  the  great 
gods  "  obtain  occasional  but  scanty  notice,  as  "  the  holy 
gods  "  do  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  (Dan.  iv.  8,  9),  Bel,  Nebo, 
and  Merodach  alone  occur  frequently,  alone  seem  to  be 
viewed,  not  as  local,  but  as  great  national  deities,  alone  en- 
gage the  thoughts  and  receive  the  adoration  of  the  nation. 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH  AND  JEEEMIAH.  105 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FTJBTHER  NOTICES  OF  BABYLON  IN  ISAIAH  AND  JEREMIAH. 

THE  complete  destruction  of  Babylon,  and  her  desola- 
tion  through  long  ages,  is  prophesied  in  Scripture  repeatedly, 
and  with  a  distinctness  and  minuteness  that  are  very  re- 
markable. The  most  striking  of  the  prophecies  are  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  ex- 
cellency/shall be  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  It 
shall  never  be  inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation 
to  generation;  neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there,  neither  shall 
the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there.  But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert 
shall  lie  there  ;  and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures;  and 
owls  shall  dwell  there,  and  satyrs  shall  dance  there.  And  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses,  and  dragons  in 
their  pleasant  palaces;  and  her  time  is  near  to  come;  and  her  days 
shall  not  be  prolonged." — ISA.  xiii.  19-22. 

"  I  will  rise  up  against  them,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  cut  off 
from  Babylpn  the  name,  and  remnant,  and  son,  and  nephew,  saith  the 
Lord.  I  will  also  make  it  a  possession  for  the  bittern,  and  pools  of 
water  ;  and  I  will  sweep  it  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts."— ISA.  xiv.  22,  23. 

"  Chaldea  shall  be  a  spoil;  all  that  spoil  her  shall  be  satisfied,  saith 
the  Lord.  Because  ye  were  glad,  because  ye  rejoiced.  O  ye  destroyers 
of  My  heritage;  because  ye  are  grown  fat,  as  the  heifer  at  grass,  and 
bellow  as  bulls;  your  mother  shall  be  sore  confounded;  she  that  bare 
you  shall  be  ashamed ;  behold,  the  hindermost  of  the  nations  shall  be  a 
wilderness,  a  dry  land,  and  a  desert.  Because  of  the  wrath  of  the 
Lord  it  shall  not  be  inhabited,  but  it  shall  be  wholly  desolate  ;  every 
one  that  goeth  by  Babylon  shall  be  astonished,  and  hiss  at  all  her 
plagues.  Put  yourselves  in  array  against  Babylon  round  about:  all 
ye  that  bend  the  bow,  shoot  at  her,  spare  no  arrows;  for  she  hath  sin- 
ned ag?.inst  the  Lord.  Shout  against  her  round  about:  she  hath  given 
her  hand;  her  foundations  are  fallen,  her  irallx  are  thrown  down  ;  for 
it  is  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord;  take  vengeance  upon  her:  as  she  hath 
done,  do  unto  her." — JER.  1.  10-15. 

"  A  drouf/ht  is  upon  her  waters  ;  and  they  shall  be  dried  up  :  for  it 
is  the  land  of  graven  images,  and  they  are  mad  upon  their  idols.  There- 
fore the  wild  beauts  of  the  desert,  with  the  wild  beasts  of  the  island*,, 
shall  dwell  there,  and  the  owls  shall  dwell  therein  ;  and  it  shall  be  no 


106  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

more  inhabited  forever;  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to 
generation.  As  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the  neigh- 
bor cities  thereof,  saith  the  Lord,  A)  shall  no  man  abide  there,  neither 
shall  any  son  of  man  dwell  therein." — Vers.  38-40. 

''Thus  saith  the  Lord;  Behold,  I  will  plead  thy  cause,  and  take 
vengeance  for  thee;  and  /  will  dry  up  her  sea,  and  make  her  springs 
dry.  And  Babylon  shall  become  heaps,  a  dwelling-place  for  dragons, 
an  astonishment  and  a  hissing,  without  an  inhabitant.  They  shall 
roar  together  like  lions;  they  shall  yell  as  lions'  whelps.  In  their  heat 
I  will  make  their  feasts,  and  I  will  make  them  drunken,  that  they  may 
rejoice,  and  sUep  a  perpetual  ^leep,  and  not  wake,  saith  the  Lord.  I 
will  bring  them  down  like  lambs  to  the  slaughter,  like  rams  with  he- 
goats.  How  is  Sheshach  taken  !  And  how  is  the  praise  of  the  whole 
earth  surprised  !  How  is  Babylon  become  an  astonishment  among  the 
nations  !  The  sea  is  come  up  upon  Babylon  ;  she  is  covered  with  the 
multitude  of  the  waves  thereof.  Her  cities  are  a  desolation,  a  dry 
land,  and  a  wilderness,  a  land  wherein  no  man  dwelleth,  neither  doth 
any  sen  of  man  pass  thereby." — JEK.  li.  36-43. 

The  general  accuracy  of  these  descriptions  has  been  fre- 
quently noticed,  scarcely  a  traveler  from  the  time  of  Pietro 
della  Valle  to  the  present  day  having  failed  to  be  struck  by 
it.  But  it  seems  worth  while  to  consider,  somewhat  in  detail, 
the  principal  points  on  which  the  prophetical  writers  insist, 
and  to  adduce  upon  each  of  them  the  testimony  of  modern 
observers. 

First,  then,  the  foundations  of  Babylon  were  to  fall,  her 
lofty  and  broad  walls  were  to  be  thrown  down  (Jer.  1.  15), 
and  she  was  not  to  present  the  appearance  of  a  ruined  city 
at  all,  but  simply  to  "  become  heaps  "  (ch.  li.  37).  It  is  the 
constant  remark  of  travelers  that  what  are  called'  the  ruins 
of  Babylon  are  simply  a  succession  of  unsightly  mounds, 
some  smaller,  some  larger — "  shapeless  heaps  of  rubbish," ' 
"immense  tumuli," t  elevations  that  might  easily  be  mis- 
taken for  natural  hills,  and  that  only  after  careful  examina- 
tion convince  the  beholder  that  they  are  human  construc- 
tions, t  The  complete  disappearance  of  the  walls  is  parti- 
cularly noticed  ;  §  and  the  visitor, ||  who  has  alone  attempted 
to  conjecture  the  position  which  they  occupied,  can  mark  no 

*  Layard,  "Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  491. 

t  Ker  Porter,  "  Travels,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  294. 

t  Ker  Porter  speaks  of  the  ruins  as   "  ancient  foundations,  me 
resemblintj  natural  hills  in  appearance,  than  mounds  covering  the  re 
mains  of  former  great  and  splendid  edifices "   ("Travels,"  vol.  ii., 
p.  297). 

§  Layard,  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  pp.  493,  494. 

I!  Oppert,  "  Expedition  Scientifique  en  Mcsopotamie,"  vol.  i.,  pp. 
220-234. 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH  AND  JEREMIAH.  107 

more  than  some  half-dozen  mounds  along  the  line  which  he 
ventures  to  assign  to  them.  One  main  portion  of  the  ruina 
is  known  to  the  Arabs  as  the  Mujellibe,  or  "  the  Overturned," 
from  the  utter  confusion  that  reigns  among  the  broken  walls 
and  blocked  passages  and  deranged  bricks  of  its  interior. 
Only  a  single  fragment  of  a  building  still  erects  itself  above 
the  mass  of  rubbish  whereof  the  mounds  are  chiefly  com- 
posed,* to  show  that  human  habitations  really  once  stood 
where  all  is  now  ruin,  decay,  and  desolation. 

When  Babylon  was  standing  in  all  its  glory,  with  its 
great  rampart  walls  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  feet 
high,  with  its  lofty  palaces  and^templc-towers,  with  its  "  hang- 
ing gardens,"  reckoned  one  of  the  world's  wonders,  and  even 
its  ordinary  houses  from  three  to  four  stories  high,  f  it  was 
a  bold  prophecy  that  the  whole  would  one  day  disappear — 
that  the  edifices  would  all  crumble  into  ruin,  and  the  decom- 
posed material  cover  up  and  conceal  the  massive  towers  and 
walls,  presenting  nothing  to  the  eye  but  rounded  hillocks, 
huge  unsightly  "  heaps."  It  may  be  that  such  a  fate  had 
already  befallen  the  great  cities  of  Assyria,  which  had  been 
destroyed  nearly  a  century  earlier,  and  which,  from  the 
nature  of  their  materials,  must  have  gone  rapidly  to  decay. 
But  the  lessons  of  the  past  do  not  readily  impress  them- 
selves on  men  ;  and  it  must  have  required  a  deep  conviction 
of  God's  absolute  foreknowledge  on  the  part  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets  to  publish  it  abroad,  on  the  strength  of  a  spiritual 
communication,  that  such  a  fate  would  overtake  the  greatest 
city  of  their  day — "  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the 
Chaldees'  excellency  "(Isa.  xiii.  19) — the  city  "given  to  pleas- 
ure "  that  dwelt  carelessly,  that  said  in  her  heart,  I  am,  and 
none  else  besides  me ;  I  shall  not  sit  as  a  widow,  neither 
shall  I  know  the  loss  of  children  "  (ch.  xlvii.  8). 

The  second  point  specially  to  be  noted  in  the  prophecies 
concerning  Babylon  is  the  prediction  of  absolute  loss  of 
inhabitants.  The  positions  of  important  cities  are  usually  so 
well  chosen,  so  rich  in  natural  advantages,  that  population 
clings  to  them  ;  dwindle  and  decay  as  they  may,  decline  as 
they  may  from  their  high  estate,  some  town,  some  village, 
some  collection  of  human  dwellings  still  occupies  a  portion  of 
the  original  site ;  their  ruins  echo  to  the  sound  of  the  human 
voice ;  they  are  not  absolute  solitudes.  Clusters  of  Arab 

*  Layard,  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  484;  Rich,  "  First  Memoir," 
p.25.  t  IJerod.,  i.  180. 


108  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

huts  cling  about  the  pillars  of  the  great  temples  at  Luxo* 
and  Karnak  ;  the  village  of  Nebbi  Yunus  crowns  the  hill 
formed  by  the  ruins  of  Sennacherib's  palace  at  Nineveh  ; 
Memphis  hears  the  hum  of  the  great  city  of  Cairo  ;  Tanis, 
the  capital  of  Rameses  II.  and  his  successor,  the  Pharaoh  of 
the  Exodus,  lives  on  in  the  mud  hovels  of  San  ;  Damascus, 
Athens,  Rome,  Antioch,  Byzantium,  Alexandria,  have  re- 
mained continuously  from  the  time  of  their  foundation  towns 
of  consequence.  But  Babylon  soon  became,  and  has  for  ages 
been,  an  absolute  desert.  Strabo,  writing  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus'  could  say  of  it  that  "  the  great  city  had  become  a 
great  solitude."  *  Jerome  tails  us  that  the  Persian  kings 
had  made  it  into  one  of  their  "  paradises,"  or  hunting  parks.  f 
Seleucia,  Ctesiphon,  Bagdad,  successively  took  its  place,  and 
were  built  out  of  its  ruins.  There  was  "  no  healing  of  its 
bruise."  When  European  travelers  began  to  make  their 
way  to  the  far  East,  the  report  which  they  brought  home  was 
as  follows  :  —  "  Babylon  is  in  the  grete  desertes  of  Arabye, 
upon  the  way  as  men  gone  towards  the  kyngdome  of  Caldee. 
But  it  is  fulle  longe  sithe  ony  man  neyhe  to  the  towne  ; 
for  it  is  alle  deserte,  and  fulle  of  dragons  and  grete  ser- 
pentes."  $  The  accounts  of  modern  explorers  are  similar. 
They  tell  us  that  "  the  site  of  Babylon  is  a  naked  and  hideous 
waste."§  "All  around,"  says  one  of  the  latest,  "is  a  blank 
waste,  recalling  the  words  of  Jeremiah  —  '  Her  cities  are  a 
desolation,  a  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness,  a  land  wherein  no 
no  man  dwelleth,  neither  doth  any  son  of  man  pass  there- 
by.' "||  No  village  crowns  any  of  the  great  mounds  which 
mark  the  situations  of  the  principal  buildings  ;  no  huts  nestle 
among  the  lower  eminences.  A  single  modern  building 
shows  itself  on  the  summit  of  the  largest  tumulus  ;  it  is  a 
tomb,  empty  and  silent. 

Isaiah  intensifies  his  description  of  the  solitude  by  the 
statement,  "  Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there,  nei- 
ther shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there  "  (ch.  xiii.  20). 
If  the  entire  space  contained  within  the  circuit  of  the  ancient 
walls  be  viewed  as  "  Babylon,"  the  words  of  the  prophet 
will  not  be  literally  true.  The  black  tents  of  the  Zobeide 


*  Strab.,  xvi.  1,  §  5:  —  'H  peydA?  ir6?u<;  fityakr)  'OTIV 

*  "  Comment,  in  Esaiam,"  vol.  v.,  p.  25,  C. 

J  Maundeville's  Travels  (1322),  quoted  by  Ker  Porter,  vol.  ii.,  p. 
336. 

§  Layard,  1.  s.c.  ||  Loftus,  "  Chaldaea  and  Susiana,"  p.  20. 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH  AND  JEREMIAH.  109 

Arabs  are  often  seen  dotting  the  plain — green  in  spring,  yel- 
low in  autumn — which  encircles  the  great  mounds,  stretch- 
ing from  their  base  to  the  far  horizon.  Much  of  this  space  was 
no  doubt  included  within  the  walls  of  the  ancient  city  ;  and 
this  is  traversed  by  the  Arabian  from  time  to  time — flocks 
are  pastured  there,  and  tents  pitched  there.  But  if  the 
term  "  Babylon  "  be  restricted  to  the  mass  of  ruins  to  which 
the  name  still  attaches,  and  which  must  have  constituted 
the  heart  of  the  ancient  town,  then  Isaiah's  words  will  be 
strictly  true  in  their  most  literal  sense.  On  the  actual  ruins 
of  Babylon  the  Arabian  neither  pitches  his  tent  nor  pastures 
his  flocks — in  the  first  place,  because  the  nitrous  soil  pro- 
duces no  pasture  to  tempt  him ;  and  secondly,  because  an 
evil  reputation  attaches  to  the  entire  site,  which  is  thought 
to  be  the  haunt  of  evil  spirits. 

A  curious  feature  in  the  prophecies,  and  one  worthy  of 
notice,  is  the  apparent  contradiction  that  exists  between  two 
sets  of  statements  contained  in  them,  one  of  which  attrib- 
utes the  desolation  of  Babylon  to  the  action  of  water,  while 
the  other  represents  the  waters  as  "  dried  up,"  and  the  site 
as  cursed  with  drought  and  barrenness.  To  the  former  class 
belong  the  statements  of  Isaiah,  "  I  will  also  make  it  a  pos- 
session for  the  bittern,  and  pools  of  water  "  (ch.  xiv.  23) ; 
and  "The  cormorant  (pelican?)  and  the  bittern  shall  possess 
it"  (ch.  xxxiv.  11)  ;  together  with  the  following  passage  of 
Jeremiah,  "  The  sea  is  come  up  upon  Babylon ;  she  is  cov- 
ered with  the  multitude  of  the  waves  thereof"  (ch.  li.  42) ; 
to  the  latter  such  declarations  as  the  subjoined,  "A  drought 
is  upon  her  waters,  and  they  shall  be  dried  up  "  (Jer.  1.  38)  ; 
"I  will  dry  up  her  sea  "  (ch.  li.  36) ;  "Her  cities  are  a  des- 
olation, a-  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness  "  (ver.  43)  ;  "  the  hin- 
dermost  of  the  nations  shall  be  a  wilderness,  a  dry  land,  and 
a  desert,"  (ch.  1.  12);  "Come  down  and  sit  in  the  dust,  O 
virgin  daughter  of  Babylon  "  (Isa.  xlvii.  1). 

But  this  antithesis,  this  paradox,  is  exactly  in  accordance 
with  the  condition  of  things  which  travelers  note  as  to  this 
day  attaching  to  the  site.  The  dry,  arid  aspect  of  the  ruins, 
of  the  vast  mounds  which  cover  the  greater  buildings,  and 
even  the  lesser  elevations  which  spread  far  into  the  plain  at 

»  "All  the  people  of  the  country."  says  Mr.  Rich,  "assert  that  it 
is  extremely  dangerous  to  approach  this  motincl  (the  Kaxr]  after 
nightfall,  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  evil  spirits  by  which  it  is 
haunted  "  ("  First  Memoir,"  p.  27).  Compare  Ker Porter's  "  Travels," 
vol.  ii.r  p.  371. 


110  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

their  base,  receives  continual  notice.  "The  whole  surface 
of  the  mounds  appears  to  the  eye,"  says  Ker  Porter,  "  noth- 
ing but  vast  irregular  hills  of  earth,  mixed  with  fragments 
of  brick,  pottery  vitrifications,  mortar,  bitumen,  etc.,  while 
the  foot  at  every  step  sinks  into  the  loose  dust  and  rubbish."* 
And  again  "  Every  spot  of  ground  in  sight  was  totally  barren, 
and  on  several  tracts  appeared  the  common  marks  of  former 
building.  It  is  an  old  adage  that  '  where  a  curse  has  fallen 
grass  will  never  grow.'  In  like  manner  the  decomposing 
materials  of  a  Babylonian  structure  doom  the  earth  on  which 
they  perish  to  an  everlasting  sterility."  f  On  all  sides,"  says 
Sir  Austen  Layard,  "  fragments  of  glass,  marble,  pottery, 
and  inscribed  brick  are  mingled  with  that  peculiar  nitrous 
and  blanched  soil  which,  bred  from  the  remains  of  ancient 
habitations,  checks  or  destroys  vegetation,  and  renders  the 
site  of  JBabylon  a  naked  and  hideous  waste."  % 

On  the  other  hand,  the  neglect  of  the  embankments  and 
canals  which  anciently  controled  the  waters  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, and  made  them  a  defence  to  the  city  and  not  a  danger, 
has  consigned  great  part  of  what  was  anciently  Babylon  to 
the  continual  invasion  of  floods,  which,  stagnating  in  the 
lower  grounds,  have  converted  large  tracts  once  included 
within  the  walls  of  the  city  into  lakes,  pools,  and  marshes. 
"The  country  to  the  westward  of  Babylon,"  writes  Ker 
Porter,  "  seemed  very  low  and  swampy.  .  .  .  On  turning  to 
the  north,  similar  morasses  and  ponds  tracked  the  land  in 
various  parts.  Indeed,  for  a  long  time  after  the  annual  over- 
flowing of  the  Euphrates,  not  only  great  part  of  the  plain  is 
little  better  than  a  swamp,  but  large  deposits  of  the  waters 
are  left  stagnant  in  the  hollows  between  the  ruins."  §  "  From 
the  summit  of  the  Birs  Nimroud,"  observes  Layard,  "  I  gazed 
over  a  vast  marsh,  for  Babylon  is  made  '  a  possession  for  the 
bittern,  and  pools  of  water.'  "  ||  Of  the  space  immediately 
about  the  chief  ruins,  Ker  Porter  notes,  "This  spot  contains 
some  cultivation,  but  more  water,  which  sapping  element  may 
well  account  for  the  abrupt  disappearance  of  the  two  parallel 
ridges  at  its  most  swampy  point. "IF 

Even  some  of  the  minor  features  of  the  picture,  which 

•  Ker  Porter.  "  Travels,"  vol.  ii .  p.  372.      t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  P-  391, 

J  Layard,  "Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  484. 

§  Ker  Porter,  "Travels,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  389. 

II  "  Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  300. 

I  Ker  Porter,  "  Travels,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  351. 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH  AND  JEREMIAH.  HI 

one  might  naturally  have  regarded  as  the  mere  artistic 
filling  up  of  the  scene  of  desolation,  which  he  had  to  de- 
pict, by  the  imagination  of  the  prophet,  are  found  to  be  in 
strict  and  literal  accordance  with  the  actual  fact.  "  The 
daughters  of  the  owl  shall  dwell  there,  "says  Isaiah  (ch.  xiii. 
21),  and  Jeremiah,  "  The  owls  shall  dwell  therein  "  (ch.  1. 
39).  "  In  most  of  the  cavities  of  the  Babil  mound,"  remarks 
Mr.  Rich,  "  there  are  numbers  of  bats  and  owls"  *  Sir 
Austen  Layard  goes  further  into  particulars.  "  A  large  gray 
owl,"  he  tells  us,  "  is  found  in  great  numbers — frequently 
in  flocks  of  nearly  a  hundred — in  the  low  shrubs  among  the 
ruins  of  Babylon. "f  The  "  owl "  of  the  prophets  is  thus  not 
a  mere  flourish  of  rhetoric,  but  a  historical  reality — an  actual 
feature  of  the  scene,  as  it  presents  itself  to  the  traveler  at 
the  present  day. 

"  Wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there  "  (Isa.  xiii. 
21)  ;  "  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert,  with  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  islands,  shall  dwell  there  "  (Jer.  1 .  39).  So  it  was 
prophesied,  and  so  it  is.  Speaking  of  the  Babil  mound,  Mr. 
Rich  observes,  "  There  arc  many  dens  of  wild  beasts  in 
various  parts,  in  one  of  which  I  found  the  bones  of  sheep 
and  other  animals,  and  perceived  a  strong  smell,  like  that 
of  a  lion."  $  "  There  are  several  deep  excavations  into  the 
sides  of  the  mound,"  remarks  Ker  Porter.  "  These  souter- 
rains  are  now  the  refuge  of  jackals  and  other  savage  animals. 
The  mouths  of  their  entrances  are  strewn  with  the  bones  of 
sheep  and  goats  ;  and  the  loathsome  smell  that  issues  from 
most  of  them  is  sufficient  warning  not  to  proceed  into  the 
den."  §  On  a  visit  to  the  Birs  Nimroud,  the  same  traveler 
observed  through  his  glass  several  lions  on  the  summit  of 
the  great  mound,  and  afterwards  found  their  foot-prints  in 
the  soft  soil  of  the  desert  at  its  base.||  This  feature  of  the 
prophecies  also  is  therefore  literally  fulfilled.  The  solitude 
deserted  by  men,  is  sought  the  more  on  that  account  by  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  country  ;  and  the  lion,  the  jackal,  and 
probably  the  leopard,  have  their  lairs  in  the  substruction  of 
the  temple  of  Belus,  and  the  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

No  doubt  there  are  also  features  of  the  prophetic  an- 
nouncements which  have  not  at  present  been  authenticated. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  what  exactly  was  intended  by  the 

*  Rich,  "  First  Memoir,"  p.  30. 

t  Layard,  "Nineveh  and  Babylon,"  p.  484,  note. 

J  Rich,  "  First  Memoir."  pp.  29.  30. 

§  Ker  Porter,  "Travels,"  vol.  ii ,  p.  342.  H  Ibid.,  pp.  387-8- 


112  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

"  doleful  creatures  "  and  the  "  satyrs  "  of  Isaiah,  which  were 
to  haunt  the  ruins  and  to  have  their  habitation  among  them. 
Literally,  the  "  satyrs  "  are  "  hairy  ones,"  *  —  a  descriptive 
epithet,  which  is  applicable  to  beasts  '  of  the  field  generally. 
The  "  dragons  "  of  Isaiah  (ch.  xiii.  22)  and  Jeremiah  (ch.  li. 
37)  should  be  serpent,  which  have  not  been  noted  recently 
as  lurking  among  the  "  heaps."  Sir  J.  Maundeville.f  how- 
ever, tells  us  that  in  his  day  —  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century  —  the  site  of  Babylon  was  "  fulle  of  dragons  and 
grete  serpentes,  "  as  well  as  of  "  dyverse  other  veneymouse 
bestes  alle  abouten."  It  is  possible  that  the  breed  of  ser- 
pents has  died  out  in  Lower  Mesopotamia  ;  it  is  equally 
possible  that  it  exists,  but  has  been  hitherto  overlooked  by 
travelers.  % 

On  the  whole,  it  is  submitted  to  the  reader's  judgment 
whether  the  prophetic  announcements  of  Holy  Scripture, 
as  to  what  was  to  befall  Babylon,  are  not  almost  as  import- 
ant evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  Scripture  record  as  the 
historical  descriptions.  The  historical  descriptions  have  to 
be  compared  with  the  statements  of  profane  writers,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  true  statements.  The  prophetical  declara- 
tions can  be  placed  side  by  side  with  actual  tangible  facts 
—facts  which  it  is  impossible  to  gainsay,  facts  whereto  each 
fresh  observer  who  penetrates  into  Lower  Mesopotamia  is  an 
additional  witness.  Travelers  to  the  site  of  Babylon,  even 
when  in  no  respect  religious  men,  are,  if  they  have  the  most 
moderate  acquaintance  with  Scripture,  penetrated  with  a 
deep  feeling  of  astonishment  at  the  exactness  of  the  agree- 
ment between  the  announcements  made  two  thousand  five 
hundred  years  ago  and  the  actual  state  of  things  which  they 
see  with  their  eyes.  The  fate  denounced  against  Babylon 
has  been  accomplished,  not  only  in  all  essential  points,  but 
even  in  various  minute  particulars.  The  facts  cannot  be 
disputed  —  there  they  are.  While  historical  evidence  loses 
force  the  further  we  are  removed  from  the  events  recorded, 
the  evidence  of  fulfilled  prophecy  continually  gains  in  strength 
as  the  ages  roll  on  in  their  unceasing  course  ;  and  the  modern 
searcher  after  truth  possesses  proofs  of  the  trustworthiness 
of  the  Word  of  God  which  were  denied  to  those  who  lived 
at  an  earlier  period. 


"  hairy,  rough." 

t  Quoie'd'by  Ker  Porter  ("Travels,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  336). 
J  If  the  true  Interpretation  of  the  word  used  be  (as  some  think) 

"  jackals,"  the  statement  made  would  be  one  of  those  fulfilled  most 

clearly. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  H3 


CHAPTER   Xin. 

KOTICES    OF    EGYPT   IN    GENESIS. 

"The  sons  of  Ham  :  Cush,  and  Mizraim,  and  Phut,  and  Canaan  " 
(Gen.  x.  6).  "And  Mizraim begat  Ludira,  andAnanim,  and  Lehabim, 
and  Naphtuhim,  and  Pathrusim,  and  Casluhiin  (out  of  whom  came 
Philistim),  and  Caphtorim." — Vers  13,  14. 

THESE  are  the  first  notices  of  Egypt  which  occur  in  Holy 
Scripture.  The  word  Mizraim,  which  is  here  simply  trans- 
literated from  the  Hebrew  (DHVP),  ^s  elsewhere,  except  in 
1  Chfon.  i.  8,  uniformly  translated  by  "  Egypt,"  or  "  the 
Egyptians."  It  undoubtedly  designates  the  country  still 
known  to  us  as  Egypt ;  but  the  origin  of  the  name  is  obscure. 
There  is  no  term  corresponding  to  it  in  the  hieroglyphical 
inscriptions,  where  Egypt  is  called  "  Kam,"  or  "Khem," 
"  the  Black  (land),"  or  "  Ta  Mera,"  "  the  inundation  country." 
The  Assyrians,  however,  are  found  to  have  denominated  the 
region  "  Muzur,"  or  "  Musr,"  and  the  Persians  "Mudr,"  or 
"Mudraya,"  a  manifest  corniption.  The  present  Arabic 
name  is  "  Misr  "  ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  these  various 
forms  represent  some  ancient  Egyptian  word,  which  was  in 
use  among  the  people,  though  not  found  in  the  hieroglyphics. 
The  Hebrew  "Mizraim"  is  a  dual  word,  and  signifies  "the 
two  Mizrs,"  or  "the  two  Egypts,"  an  expression  readily  in- 
telligible from  the  physical  conformation  of  the  country, 
which  naturally  divides  itself  into  "  Upper  "  and  *'  Lower 
Egypt,"  the  long  narrow  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  the  broad 
tract,  known  as  the  Delta,  on  the  Mediterranean. 

We  learn  from  the  former  of  the  two  passages  quoted 
above  that  the  Egyptian  people  was  closely  allied  to  three 
others,  viz.,  the  Cushite  or  Ethiopian  race,  the  people  known 
to  the  Hebrews  as  "  Phut,"  and  the  primitive  inhabitants  of 
Canaan.  The  ethnic  connection  of  ancient  races  is  a  matter 
rarely  touched  on  by  profane  writers  ;  but  the  connection  of 
the  Egyptians  with  the  Canaanites  was  asserted  by  Eupole- 


n 4  EGYPT  AND  BABYL ON. 

mus,*  and  a  large  body  of  classical  tradition  tends  to  unite 
them  with  the  Ethiopians.  The  readiness  with  which  Ethio- 
pia received  Egyptian  civilization  f  lends  support  to  the 
theory  of  a  primitive  identity  of  race;  and  linguistic  research, 
so  far  as  it  has  been  pursued  hitherto,  is  in  harmony  with  the 
supposed  close  connection. 

From  the  other  passage  (Gen.  x.  13,  14)  we  learn  that 
the  Egyptians  themselves  were  ethnically  separated  into  a 
number  of  distinct  tribes,  or  subordinate  races,  of  whom  the 
writer  enumerates  no  fewer  than  seven.  The  names  point  to 
a  geographic  separation  of  the  races,  since  they  have  their 
representatives  in  different  portions  of  the  Egyptian  territory. 
Now  this  separation  accords  with,  and  explains,  the  strongly 
marked  division  of  Egypt  into  "nomes,"  having  conflicting 
usages  and  competing  religious  systems.  It  suggests  the 
idea  that  the  "nome"  was  the  original  territory  of  a  tribe, 
and  that  the  Egyptian  monarchy  grew  up  by  an  aggregation 
of  nomes,  which  were  not  originally  divisions  of  a  kingdom, 
like  counties,  but  distinct  states,  like  the  kingdoms  of  the 
Heptarchy.  This  is  a  view  taken  by  many  of  the  historians 
of  ancient  Egypt,  derived  from  the  facts  as  they  existed  in 
later  times.  It  receives  confirmation  and  explanation  from 
the  enumeration  of  Egyptian  races — not  a  complete  one, 
probably — which  is  made  in  this  passage. 

"  Abraham  went  down  into  Egypt,  to  sojourn  there  .  .  .  And 
it  came  to  pass  that,  when  Abram  was  come  into  Egypt,  the  Egyp- 
tians beheld  the  woman  (Sarai)  that  she  was  very  fair.  The 
princess  also  of  Pharaoh  saw  her  and  commended  her  before  Pharaoh; 
and  the  woman  was  taken  into  Pharaoh's  house.  And  lie  entreated 
Abram  well  for  her  sake:  and  he  had  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  he-asses, 
and  men-servants,  and  maid-servants,  and  she-asses,  and  camels.  And 
the  LORD  plagued  Pharaoh  and  his  house  with  great  plagues,  because 
of  Sarai,  Abram's  wife.  And  Pharaoh  called  Abram,  and  said,  Wliat 
is  this  that  thou  hast  done  unto  me,  ?  Why  didst  thou  not  tell  me  that 
she  was  thy  wife  ?  Why  saidst  thou,  She  is  my  sister  ?  So  I  might 
have  taken  her  to  me  to  wife ;  now  therefore  beho'd  thy  wife,  take  her. 
and  go  thy  way.  And  Pharaoh  commanded  his  men  concerning  him; 
and  they  sent  him  away,  and  his  wife,  and  all  that  he  had." — 
GEX.  xii.  10-20. 

The  early  date  of  this  notice  makes  it  peculiarly  interest- 
ing. Whether  we  take  the  date  of  Abraham's  visit  as  circ. 
B.C.  1920,  with  Usher,  or,  with  others,!  as  a  hundred  and 

•  See  a  fragment  of  Eupolemus  quoted  byPolyhistor  in  C.  Miiller't 
"  Fr.  Hist.  Graec.,"  vol.  Hi.,  p.  212,  Fr.  3.  t  Herod,  ii.  30. 

|  As  Mr.  Stuart  Poole  {"  Diet,  of  the  Bible,"  vol.  1.,  p.  508). 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  115 

sixty  years  earlier,  it  seems  almost  certain  that  it  must  have 
fallen  into  the  time  of  that  "  old  Egyptian  Empire  "  which 
preceded  the  great  Hyksos  invasion,  and  developed  at  that 
remote  date  the  original  Egyptian  civilization.  Does  then 
the  portraiture  of  the  Egypt  of  this  period  resemble  that  of 
the  ancient  empire,  as  revealed  to  us  by  the  monuments  ?  No 
doubt  the  portraiture  is  exceedingly  slight,  the  main  object 
of  the  writer,  apparently,  being  to  record  an  incident  in  the 
life  of  Abraham  wherein  he  fell  into  sin.  Still  certain  points 
are  sufficiently  marked,  as  the  following: — 1.  Egypt  is  a 
settled  monarchy  under  a  Pharaoh,  who  has  princes  (sarim) 
under  him,  at  a  time  when  the  neighboring  countries  are  oc- 
cupied mainly  by  nomadic  tribes  under  petty  chiefs.  2. 
Reports  are  brought  to  Pharaoh  by  his  princes  with  respect 
to  foreigners  who  enter  his  country.  3.  Egypt  is  already 
known  as  a  land  of  plenty,  where  there  will  be  corn  and 
forage  when  famine  has  fallen  upon  Syria.  4.  Domesticated 
animals  are  abundant  there,  and  include  sheep,  oxen,  asses, 
and  camels,  but  (apparently)  no  horses.  What  has  profane 
history  to  say  on  these  four  points? 

First,  then,  profane  history  lays  it  down  that  a  settled 
government  was  established  in  Egypt,  and  monarchical  in- 
stitutions set  up,  at  an  earlier  date  than  in  any  other  country. 
On  this  point  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  and  the  Greek  writers 
generally,  are  agreed,  while  the  existing  remains,  assisted  by 
the  interpretation  of  Eanetho,  point  to  the  same  result.  It 
is  not  now  questioned  by  any  historian  of  repute  but  that  the 
Egyptian  monarchy  dates  from  a  time  anterior  to  »>.o  2000, 
while  there  are  writers  who  carry  it  back  to  B.  c.  5004.*  The 
title  of  the  monarch,  from  a  very  remote  antiquity,!  was 
"  Per-ao,"  or  "  the  Great  House,"!  which  the  Hebrews  would 
naturally  represent  by  Phar-aoh  (JljTltJ).  He  was,  from  the 
earliest  times  to  which  the  monuments  go  back,  supported 
by  powerful  nobles,  or  "  princes,"  who  were  hereditary 
landed  proprietors  of  great  wealth.  § 

Secondly,  a  scene  in  a  tomb  at  Beni  Hassan  clearly 
shows  that,  under  the  Old  Empire,  foreigners  on  their  arrival 
in  the  country,  especially  if  they  came  with  a  train  of  at- 

*  So  Leuormant,  following  Mariette  ("Manuel  d'llistoire  Anci 
enne,"  vol.  i.,  p.  321). 

t  See  Canon  Cook  in  the  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.  p.  478. 

}  Compare  the  phrase  "The  Ottoman  Porte." 

§  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  pp.  44,  64   etc. 


116  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

tendants,  as  Abraham  would  (Gen.  xiv.  14),  were  received 
at  the  frontier  by  the  governor  of  the  province,  whose  secre- 
tary took  down  in  writing  their  number,  and  probably 
their  description,  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  forwarding  a 
"  report  "  to  the  court.  Reports  of  this  character,  belong- 
ing to  later  times,  have  been  found,  and  are  among  the  most 
interesting  of  the  ancient  documents.  It  was  regarded  as 
especially  important  to  apprise  the  monarch  of  all  that  hap- 
pened upon  his  north-eastern  frontier,  where  Egypt  abutted 
upon  tribes  of  some  considerable  strength,  whose  proceed- 
ings had  to  be  watched  with  care. 

Thirdly,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that,  under  the  Old 
Empire,  Egypt  was  largely  productive,  and  kept  in  its 
granaries  a  great  store  of  corn,  which  was  available  either 
for  home  consumption,  or  for  the  relief  of  foreigners  on  oc- 
casions of  scarcity.  In  the  time  of  the  twelfth  dynasty  state- 
granaries  existed,  which  were  under  the  control  of  over- 
seers appointed  by  the  crown,  who  were  officials  of  a  high 
dignity,  and  had  many  scribes,  or  clerks,  employed  in  carry- 
ing out  the  details  of  their  business.*  Even  private  per- 
sons laid  up  large  quantities  of  grain,  and  were  able  in  bad 
seasons  to  prevent  any  severe  distress,  either  by  gratuitous 
distributions,  or  by  selling  their  accumulations  at  a  moderate 


Fourthly,  the  domesticated  animals  in  the  early  times 
include  all  those  mentioned  as  given  to  Abraham  by  the 
Pharaoh  with  whom  he  came  into  contact,  except  the  camel, 
while  they  do  not  include  the  horse.  It  was  once  denied  J 
that  the  Egypt  of  Abraham's  time  possessed  asses  ;  but  the 
tombs  of  Ghizeh  have  shown  that  they  were  the  ordinary 
beast  of  burden  during  the  pyramid  period,  and  that  some- 
times an  individual  possessed  as  many  as  seven  or  eight 
hundred.  No  trace  has  been  found  of  camels  in  the  Egyptian 
monuments,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  they  Avcre  only  em- 
ployed upon  the  north-eastern  frontier  ;  but  the  traffic  be- 
tween Egypt  and  the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  which  was  certainly 
(tamed  on  by  the  Pharaohs  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and 
twelfth  dynasties,  can  scarcely  have  been  conducted  in  any 
other  way.§  For  Abraham,  a  temporary  sojourner  in  the 

•  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  63. 
t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  xii.,  pp.  63,  64. 
J  By  Von  Bohleu  in  his  "  Die  Genesis  erlautert." 
§  Compare  Gen.  xxxvii.  25. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  117 

land,  about  to  return  through  the  desert  into  Palestine, 
camels  would  be  a  most  appropriate  present,  and  thus  their 
inclusion  in  the  list  of  animals  given  is  open  to  no  reasonable 
objection,  though  certainly  without  confirmation  from  the 
remains  hitherto  discovered  in  Egypt.  The  omission  from 
the  list  of  the  horse  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  most  significant 
fact,  since  horses,  so  abundant  in  Egypt  at  the  date  of  the 
Exodus  (Exod.  ix.  3  ;  xiv.  1.  23  ;  xv.  1,  21),  were  unknown 
under  the  early  monarchy,*  having  been  first  introduced  by 
the  Hyksos,  and  first  largely  used  by  the  kings  of  the  eigh- 
teenth dynasty. 

"They  lifted  up  their  eyes,  and  looked,  and,  behold,  a  company  of 
Ishmaelites  came  from  Gilead,  with  their  camels,  bearing  spicery,  and 
balm,  and  myrrh,  going  to  carry  it  down  to  Egypt  .  .  .  and  they  sold 
Joseph  to  the  Ishmaelites  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver  :  and  they 
brought  Joseph  into  Egypt  .  .  .  and  sold  him  into  Egypt  unto  Poti- 
phar,  an  officer  of  Pharaoh's,  and  captain  of  the  guard." — GEN. 
xxxvii.  25-36. 

The  first  thing  here  especially  noticeable  is  that  Egypt 
requires  for  its  consumption  large  quantities  of  spices,  and 
is  supplied  with  them,  not  by  direct  commerce  with  Arabia 
across  the  Red  Sea,  as  we  might  have  expected,  but  by 
caravans  of  merchants,  who  reach  Egypt  through  Gilead  and 
Southern  Palestine.  Now  the  large  consumption  of  spices 
by  the  Egyptians  is  witnessed  by  Herodotus,  who  tells 
us  that,  in  the  best  method  of  embalming,  which  was  em- 
ployed by  all  the  wealthier  classes  of  the  Egyptians,  a  large 
quantity  of  aromatics,  especially  myrrh  and  cassia,  was 
necessary,  the  abdomen  being  not  only  washed  out  with  an 
infusion  of  them,  but  afterwards  filled  up  with  the  bruised 
Bpices  themselves. f  The  Egyptian  monuments  show  that 
aromatics  were  also  required  for  the  worship  of  the  gods,  es- 
pecially Ammon.  Not  only  do  we  continually  see  the  priests 
with  censers  in  their  hands,  in  which  incense  is  being  burnt, 
but  we  read  of  an  expedition  made  to  the  land  of  Punt  for 
the  express  purpose  of  bringing  frankincense  and  frankin- 
cense trees  "  for  the  majesty  of  the  god  Ammon,"  to  "  honor 
him  with  resin  from  the  incense-trees,  and  by  vases  full  of 
fresh  incense."J  It  is  observable,  however,  on  this  partic- 
ular occasion,  the  spicery  imported  came  from  Arabia,  and 

*  Birch,  pp.  42,  82;  Chabas,  "  Etudes  sur  1'Antiquite"  Historique," 
p.  421. 

t  Herod,  ii.  86.         J  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  x.,  pp.  18,  19. 


118  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

reached  Egypt  by  sea,  which  may  seem  at  first  sight  to  be 
an  objection  to  the  existence  of  a  caravan  spice  trade.  But  a 
consideration  of  the  dates  deprives  this  objection  of  all  force. 
The  expedition  to  Punt,  which  is  spoken  of  as  the  first  that 
ever  took  place,  was  sent  by  Queen  Ilatasu,  and  belongs 
to  the  eighteenth  dynasty — the  first  of  the  New  Empire. 
Joseph  was  sold  into  Egypt  under  the  Middle  Empire,  and 
according  to  tradition,*  was  prime  minister  of  Apepi,  the 
"  shepherd  "  king.  The  sea-trade  with  Punt  for  spices  not 
being  at  that  time  open,  the  spices  of  Arabia  could  only  be 
obtained  by  land  traffic. 

The  passage  further  implies  the  existence  in  Egypt  at 
this  time  of  a  traffic  in  slaves,  who  were  foreigners,  and 
valued  at  no  very  high  rate.  The  monuments  prove  slaves 
to  have  been  exceedingly  numerous  under  the  Ancient  Em- 
pire. The  king  had  a  vast  number ;  the  estates  of  the  nobles 
were  cultivated  by  them  ;  and  a  large  body  ot  hieroduli,  or 
"  sacred  slaves,"  was  attached  to  most  of  the  temples.  For- 
eign slaves  seem  to  have  been  preferred  to  native  ones,  and 
wars  were  sometimes  undertaken  less  with  the  object  of  con- 
quest or  subjugation  than  with  that  of  obtaining  a  profit  by 
selling  those  who  were  taken  prisoners  in  the  slave  market.f 
We  have  no  direct  information  as  to  the  value  of  slaves  at 
this  period  from  Egyptian  sources,  but  from  their  abundance 
they  were  likely  to  be  low-priced,  and  "  twenty  shekels " 
is  very  much  the  rate  at  which,  judging  from  analogy,  we 
should  have  been  inclined  to  estimate  them. 

"  The  Lord  was  with  Joseph,  and  he  was  a  prosperous  man ;  and 
he  was  in  the  house  of  his  master,  the  Egyptian.  And  his  master 
saw  that  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  that  the  Lord  made  all  that  he  did 
to  prosper  in  his  hand.  And  Joseph  found  grace  in  his  sight,  and  he 
served  him;  and  he  made  him  overseer  over  his  house,  and  all  that  he 
had  he  put  into  his  hand.  And  it  came  to  pass  from  the  time  that  he 
had  made  him  overseer  in  his  house,  and  over  all  that  he  had,  that 
the  Lord  blessed  the  Egyptian's  house  for  Joseph's  sake ;  and  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Lord  was  upon  all  that  lie  had  in  the  house,  and  in  the 
field.  And  he  left  all  that  he  had  in  Joseph's  hand,  and  he  knew  not 
aught  he  had.  save  the  bread  which  he  did  eat.  And  Joseph  was  a 
goodly  person  and  well-favored.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  these 
things  that  his  master's  wife  cast  her  eyes  upon  Joseph;  and  she  said, 
Lie  with  me.  But  he  refused,  and  said  unto  his  master's  wife.  Be- 
hold, my  master  wotteth  not  what  is  with  me  in  the  house,  and  he 
hath  committed  all  that  he  hath  to  my  hand;  there  is  none  greater  in 

*  Syncellus,  "  Chronocraph."  p.  62,  B. 
t  Brugsch,  "  Hist,  of  Egypt,"  vol.  i.  p.  161. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  119 

this  house  than  I;  neither  hath  he  kept  back  anything  from  me  but 
thee,  because  them  art  his  wife;  how  then  can  I  do  this  great  wicked- 
ness, and  sin  against  God  ?  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  she  spake  to 
Joseph  day  by  day,  that  lie  hearkened  not  to  her,  to  lie  by  her,  or  to 
be  with  her.  And  it  came  to  pass  about  this  time  that  Joseph  went 
into  the  house  to  do  his  business,  and  there  was  none  of  the  men  of 
the  house  there  within.  And  she  caught  him  by  his  garment,  saying, 
Lie  with  me;  and  he  left  his  garment  in  her  hand,  and  fled,  and  got 
him  out.  And  it  came  to  pass  when  she  saw  that  he  had  left  his  gar- 
ment in  her  hand,  and  was  fled  forth,  that  she  called  unto  the  men  of 
her  house,  and  spake  unto  them  saying,  See  he  hath  brought  in  an 
Hebrew  unto  us  to  mock  us;  he  came  in  unto  me  to  lie  with  me,  ami 
I  cried  with  a  loud  voice;  and  it  came  10  pass,  when  he  heard  that  I 
lifted  up  my  voice  and  cried,  that  he  left  his  garment  with  me,  and 
fled,  and  got  him  out.  And  she  laid  up  his  garment  by  her  until  his 
lord  came  home.  And  she  spoke  unto  him  according  to  these  words, 
saying,  The  Hebrew  servant  which  thou  hast  brought  unto  us  came 
in  unto  me  to  mock  me;  and  it  came  to  pass,  as  I  lifted  up  my  voice 
and  cried,  that  he  left  his  garment  with  me  and  fled  out.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  when  his  master  heard  the  words  of  his  wife,  which  she  spake 
unto  him,  saying.  After  this  manner  did  thy  servant  to  me,  that  his 
wrath  was  kindled.  And  Joseph's  master  took  him  and  put  him  into 
the  prison." — GEN.  xxxix.  2-20. 

It  has  often  been  observed  that  this  picture  ia  in  remark- 
able harmony  with  the  general  tone  of  Egyptian  manners  and 
customs.  The  licentiousness  of  the  women  provoked  the 
strictures  of  the  Greek  historians,  Herodotus  and  Dioclorus.* 
The  liberty  which  they  enjoyed  of  intermixing  and  convers- 
ing with  men,  so  contrary  to  the  general  Oriental  practice, 
is  fully  borne  out,  by  the  tales  of  the  Egyptian  novelists,  and 
by  the  scenes  represented  upon  the  monuments.  The  life  of 
an  Egyptian  noble,  at  once  a  royal  official  and  a  landed  pro- 
prietor, with  much  to  manage  "  in  the  field  "  (ver.  5)  as  well 
as  in  his  house,  is  graphically  sketched.  The  one  garment 
of  the  slave  is  casually  indicated  by  the  expression,  so  often 
repeated,  "  he  left  ///*  garment  in  her  hand."  The  extra- 
ordinary dependence  placed  upon  "  overseers,"  or  stewards, 
who  had  the  entire  management  of  the  household,  the  ac- 
counts, and  the  farm  or  estate — a  very  peculiar  feature  of 
Egyptian  life — is  set  forth  with  great  force.  But,  besides 
these  isolated  points,  the  whole  narrative  receives  most  curU 
ons  illustrations  from  one  of  the  tales  most  popular  among 
the  Egyptians,  which  has  fortunately  descended  to  our  day. 
In  the 'story  of  "  The  Two  Brothers,"  written  by  the  illus- 
trious scribe  Anna,  or  Enna,  for  the  delectation  of  Seti  II., 

•  Herod,  ii.  Ill;  Diod.  Sic.  i.  59. 


120  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

when  heir-apparent  to  the  throne,  we  have  a  narrative  which 
contains  a  passage  so  nearly  parallel  to  this  portion  of 
Joseph's  history,  that  it  seems  worth  while  quoting  it  in 
extenso. 

"  There  were  two  brothers,"  said  the  writer,  "  children 
of  one  mother  and  one  father — the  name  of  the  elder  was 
Anepu,  the  name  of  the  younger  Bata.  Anepu  had  a  house 
and  a  wife  ;  and  his  younger  brother  was  like  a  son  to  him. 
He  it  was  who  provided  Anepu  with  clothes,  he  it  was  who 
attended  upon  his  cattle,  he  who  managed  the  ploughing,  he 
who  did  all  the  labors  of  the  fields  ;  indeed,  his  younger 
brother  was  so  good  a  laborer,  that  there  was  not  his  equal 
in  the  whole  land. 

"  And  when  the  days  had  multiplied  after  this,  it  was 
the  wont  of  the  younger  brother  to  be  with  the  cattle  day  by 
day,  and  to  take  them  home  to  the  house  every  evening ;  he 
came  laden  with  all  the  herbs  of  the  field.  The  elder  brother 
sat  with  his  wife,  and  ate  and  drank,  while  the  younger  was 
in  the  stable  with  the  cattle.  The  younger,  when  the  day 
dawned,  rose  before  his  elder  brother,  took  bread  to  the  field 
and  called  the  laborers  together  to  eat  bread  in  the  field. 
Then  he  followed  after  his  cattle,  and  they  told  him  where 
all  the  best  grasses  grew,  for  he  understood  all  that  they  said  ; 
and  he  took  them  to  the  place  where  was  the  goodly  herb- 
age which  they  desired.  And  the  cattle  which  he  followed 
after  became  exceediugly  beautiful.  And  they  multiplied 
exceedingly. 

"  Now  when  the  time  for  ploughing  came,  his  elder 
brother  said  to  him,  '  Let  us  take  our  teams  for  ploughing, 
because  the  land  has  now  made  its  appearance  [i.e,  the  inun- 
dation has  subsided],  and  the  time  is  excellent  for  plough- 
ing it.  Come  thou  then  with  the  seed,  and  we  shall  accom- 
plish the  ploughing.'  Thus  he  spake.  And  the  younger 
brother  proceeded  to  do  all  that  his  elder  brother  told  him  ; 
and  when  the  day  dawned  they  went  to  the  field  with  their 
[teams?],  and  worked  at  their  tillage,  and  enjoyed  them- 
selves  exceedingly  at  their  work. 

"But  when  the  days  were  multiplied  after  this,  they 
were  in  the  field  together,  and  the  elder  brother  sent  the 
younger,  saying,  '  Go  and  fetch  seed  for  us  from  the  village.' 
And  the  younger  brother  foundvthe  wife  of  the  elder  one  sit- 
ting at  her  toilet ;  and  he  said  to  her,  '  Arise,  and  give  me 
ieed,  that  I  may  go  back  with  it  to  the  field,  because  my  elder 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  121 

brother  wishes  me  to  return  without  any  delay.'  And  she 
said  to  him,  'Go,  open  the  bin,  and  take,  thyself,  as  much  as 
thou  wilt,  since  my  hair  would  fall  by  the  way.'  So  the 
youth  entered  the  stable,  and  took  a  large  vessel,  for  he 
wished  to  take  back  a  great  deal  of  seed ;  and  he  loaded 
himself  with  grain,  and  went  out  with  it.  And  she  said  to 
him,  '  How  much  have  you  [on  your  arm]  ? '  And  he  an- 
swered, 'Two  measures  of  barley,  and  three  measures  of 
wheat — in  all,  I  have  five  measures  on  my  arm.'  Then  she 
spake  to  him  saying,  '  What  great  strength  is  there  in  thee  ! 
Indeed,  I  notice  thy  vigor  every  day'  .  .  .  Then  she  seized 
upon  him,  and  said  to  him,  '  Come  and  let  us  lie  down  for 
an  instant'  .  .  .  The  youth  became  as  a  panther  with  fury, 
on  account  of  the  shameful  words  which  she  had  addressed 
to  him.  And  she  herself  was  alai-med  exceedingly.  He 
spake  to  her,  saying,  '  Verily,  I  have  looked  upon  thee  in 
the  light  of  a  mother,  and  on  thy  husband  in  the  light  of  a 
father.  What  great  abomination  is  this  which  thou  hast 
mentioned  to  me !  Do  not  repeat  it  again,  and  I  will  not 
speak  of  it  to  any  one.  Verily,  I  will  not  permit  a  word  of 
it  to  escape  my  mouth  to  any  man.' 

"  He  took  up  his  load,  and  went  forth  to  the  field.  He 
rejoined  his  elder  brother,  and  they  accomplished  the  task 
of  their  labor.  And  when  the  time  of  evening  arrived,  the 
elder  brother  returned  to  his  house.  His  younger  brother 
[tarried]  behind  his  cattle,  laden  with  all  the  things  of  the 
field.  He  drove  his  cattle  before  him,  that  they  might  lie 
down  in  their  stable. 

"  Behold,  the  wife  of  the  elder  brother  was  alarmed  at 
the  discourse  which  she  had  held.  She  made  herself  as  one 
who  had  suffered  violence  from  a  man  ;  for  she  designed  to 
say  to  her  husband,  '  It  is  thy  younger  brother  who  has  done 
me  violence.' 

"  Her  husband  returned  home  at  evening,  according  to 
his  daily  wont.  He  came  to  his  house,  and  he  found  his 
wife  lying  as  if  murdered  by  a  ruffian.  She  did  not  pour 
water  on  his  hands,  according  to  her  wont ;  she  did  not  light 
the  lamp  before  him  ;  his  house  was  in  darkness.  She  was 
lying  there,  all  uncovered.  Her  husband  said  to  her,  '  Who 
is  it  that  has  been  conversing  with  thee?'  She  replied, 
'No  one  has  been  conversing  with  me  except  thy  younger 
brother.  When  he  came  to  fetch  seed  for  thee  he  found  me 
sitting  alone,  and  he  said  to  me,  "  Come  and  let  us  lie  down 


122  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

for  an  instant."  That  is  what  he  said  to  me.  But  I  did  not 
listen  to  him.  "  Behold,  am  I  not  thy  mother ;  and  thy 
elder  brother,  is  he  not  as  a  father  to  thee  ?  " — that  is  what 
I  said  to  him.  Then  he  became  alarmed,  and  did  me  violence, 
that  I  might  not  be  able  to  report  the  matter  to  thee.  But 
if  thou  lettest  him  live,  I  shall  kill  myself.'  .  .  .  Then  the 
elder  brother  became  like  a  panther ;  he  made  his  dagger 
sharp,  and  took  it  in  his  hand.  And  he  put  himself  behind 
the  door  of  his  stable,  in  order  to  kill  his  younger  brother, 
when  he  returned  at  even  to  bring  the  cattle  to  their 
stalls."  * 

It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  the  story  further.  Anepu  is 
bent  on  killing  his  brother,  but  is  prevented.  Potiphar, 
with  a  moderation  which  seems  to  argue  some  distrust  of 
his  wife's  story,  is  content  to  imprison  Joseph.  Innocence 
in  both  cases  suffers,  and  then  triumph  in  the  Egyptian 
tale  is  effected  by  repeated  metempsychosis,  and  therefore 
diverges  altogether  from  the  Mosaic  history.  Still,  it  is 
conceivable  that  the  Egyptian  novel,  written  several  cen- 
turies after  Joseph's  death,  was  based  upon  some  traditional 
knowledge  of  the  ordeal  through  which  he  had  passed  un- 
scathed, and  the  ultimate  glory  to  which  he  had  attained  as 
ruler  of  Egypt,  f 

*  See  "  Kecords  of  the  Past,"  vol .  ii.,  pp.  139-142. 

t  Bata,  after  his  many  transmigrations,  is  finally  reborn  as  the 
child  of  an  Egyptian  princess,  and  rules  Egypt  for  thirty  years  (Ibid., 
p.  151). 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  123 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FURTHER   NOTICES   OF   EGYPT   IN   GENESIS. 

THE  history  of  Joseph  in  Egypt  after  he  was  thrown  into 
prison  by  Potiphar,  which  occupies  the  last  eleven  chapters 
of  Genesis,  is  delivered  to  us  at  too  great  length  to  be  con- 
veniently made  the  subject  of  illustration  by  means  of  coru- 
meiit  on  a  series  of  passages.  We  propose  therefore  to  view 
it  hi  the  mass,  as  a  picture  of  Egypt  at  a  certain  period  of 
its  history,  to  be  determined  by  chronological  considerations, 
and  t/hen  to  inquire  how  far  the  portraiture  given  corre- 
sponds to  what  is  known  to  us  of  the  Egypt  of  that  time  from 
profaue  sources. 

The  time  of  Joseph's  visit  to  Egypt  is  variously  given  by 
chronologers.  Archbishop  Usher,  whose  dates  are  followed 
in  the  aiargin  of  the  English  Bible,  as  published  by  authority, 
regards  him  as  having  resided  in  the  country  from  B.  c. 
1729  u>  B.  c.  1635.  Most  other  chronologers  place  his  so- 
journ earlier:  Stuart  Poole*  from  B.  c.  1867;  Clinton  f 
from  K.  c.  1862  to  B.  c.  1770 ;  Hales  t  from  B.  c.  1886  to 
B.  c.  IV 92.  Even  the  latest  of  these  dates  would  make  his 
arrival  anterior  to  the  commencement  of  the  New  Empire, 
which  was  certainly  not  earlier  than  B.  c.  1700.  If  we  add 
to  this  the  statement  of  George  the  Syncellus,§  that  all 
writers  agreed  in  making  him  the  prime  minister  of  one  of 
the  shepherd  kings,  we  seem  to  have  sufficient  grounds  for 
the  belief  that  the  Egypt  of  his  time  was  that  of  the  Middle 
Empire  or  Hyksos,  an  Asiatic  people  who  held  Egypt  in 
subjection  for  some  centuries  before  the  great  rising  under 
Aahmes,  which  re-established  a  native  dynasty  upon  the  old 
throne  of  the  Pharaohs. 

*  "  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  vol.  i.,  p.  508. 
t  "Fasti  Hellenici,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  300,  320. 
I  "Ancient  Chronology,"  vol.  i.,  p.  104,  et  seq. 
§  "  Chronographia,"  p.  62.  B. 


124  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Does  then  the  Egypt  of  the  later  chapters  of  Genesis 
correspond  to  this  time?  It  has  been  argued  that  it  does 
not,  because,  on  the  whole,  it  is  so  like  the  Egypt  of  other 
times.  We  have  the  king  depicted  in  all  his  state,  with 
his  signet  ring  upon  his  finger  (Gen.  xli.  42),  with  chariots 
to  ride  in  (ib.  43),  and  gold  chains  to  give  away,  possessed 
of  a  "  chief  butler"  and  a  "chief  baker"  (ch.  xl.  9,  16),  able 
to  imprison  and  execute  whom  he  will  (ib.  3,  22),  with 
"magicians"  and  "wise  men"  for  counselors  (ch.  xli.  8), 
rich  in  flocks  and  herds  (ch.  xlvii.  6),  despotic  over  the 
people  (ch.  xli.  34  ;  xlvii.  21),  with  no  fear  or  regard  for  any 
class  of  his  subjects  but  the  priests  (ch.  xlvii.  22,  26).  We 
have  the  priests  as  a  distinctly  privileged  class,  supported 
by  the  monarch  in  a  time  of  famine,  possessed  of  lands,  and 
not  compelled  to  cede  to  the  king  ariy  right  over  their  lands. 
We  have  mention  of  the  "  priest  of  On,"  or  Heliopolis,  as  a 
magnate  of  the  first  class,  with  whom  Joseph  did  not  disdain 
to  ally  himself  after  he  had  become  grand  vizier,  and  was  the 
next  person  in  the  kingdom  to  the  king  (ch.  xli.  45,  50). 
We  have  the  Egyptian  contempt  for  foreigners  noted  in  the 
statement  that  "  the  Egyptians  might  not  eat  bread  with  the 
Hebrews  "  (ch.  xliii.  32),  and  their  special  aversion  to  herds- 
men touched  on  in  the  observation  that  "  every  shepherd  is 
an  abomination  unto  the  Egyptians  "  (ch.  xlvi.  34).  We  see 
agriculture  the  main  occupation  of  the  people,  yet  pasturing 
of  cattle  carried  on  upon  a  large  scale  in  the  Delta  (ch.  xlvii. 
1-6).  We  find  embalming  practised,  and  a  special  class  of 
embalmers  (ch.  1.  2) ;  and  it  appears  that  embalmed  bodies 
are  placed  within  coffins  (ib.  26).  Chariots  and  horses  are 
tolerably  common,  for  when  Joseph  goes  from  Egypt  to 
Canaan  to  bury  his  father,  there  goes  up  with  him  "a  very 
great  company,  both  chariots  and  horsemen"  (ib.  9),  while 
"horses,"  no  less  than  cattle  and  asses,  are  among  the  do- 
mesticated animals  exchanged  by  the  Egyptians  generally  for 
corn  (ch.  xlvii.  17).  But,  though  horses  are  in  use  among 
the  people,  especially  the  official  classes  and  the  rich,  asses 
are  still  the  main  beasts  of  burden,  and  are  alone  employed 
in  the  conveyance  of  commodities  between  Egypt  and 
Canaan  (ch.  xlv.  23).  Wheeled  vehicles  are  known,  and  are 
used  for  the  conveyance  of  women  and  children  (ib.  19-21). 
Such  are  the  leading  features  of  the  Egypt  depicted  by  the 
writer  of  Genesis  in  these  chapters.  The  description  is  said 
to  be  too  thoroughly  Egyptian  to  be  a  true  representation 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  125 

of  a  time  when  a  foreign  dynasty  was  in  possession,  and  the 
nation  was  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  a  conqueror.  * 

The  general  answer  to  this  objection  seems  to  be  that, 
as  so  often  happens  when  a  race  of  superior  is  overpowered 
by  one  of  inferior  civilization,  the  conquerors  rapidly  as- 
similated themselves  in  most  respects  to  the  conquered, 
affected  their  customs,  and  even  to  some  extent  adopted 
their  prejudices.  M.  Chabas  remarks  that  the  Hyksos,  or 
shepherd  kings,  after  a  time  became  "  Egyptianized."  f  "  The 
science  and  the  usages  of  Egypt  introduced  themselves 
among  them.  They  surrounded  themselves  with  learned 
men,  built  temples,  encouraged  statuary,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  inscribed  their  own  names  on  the  statues  of  the 
Old  Empire,  which  were  still  standing,  in  the  place  of  those 
of  the  Pharaohs  who  had  erected  them.  It  is  this  period  of 
civilization  which  alone  has  left  us  the  sphinxes,  the  statues, 
and  the  inscriptions  which  recall  the  art  of  Egypt ;  the  man- 
ners of  the  foreign  conquerors  had  by  this  time  been  sensibly 
softened."  $  And  again,  "  Apepi,  the  last  shepherd  king, 
was  an  enlightened  prince,  who  maintained  a  college  of  men 
skilled  in  sacred  lore,  after  the  example  of  the  Pharaohs  of 
every  age,  and  submitted  all  matters  of  importance  to  them 
for  examination  before  he  formed  any  decision."  §  The 
Pharaoh  of  Joseph,  according  to  the  Syncellus,  ||  was  this 
very  Apepi,  the  last  shepherd  king,  the  predecessor  of  the 
Aahmes,  who,  after  a  long  and  severe  struggle,  expelled  the 
Hyksos,  and  re-established  in  Egypt  the  rule  of  a  native 
dynasty. 

Thus,  it  was  to  have  been  expected  that,  if  Joseph  lived 
under  Apepi,  or  indeed  under  any  one  of  the  later  shepherd 
kings,  a  description  of  the  Egypt  of  his  day  would  greatly 
resemble  any  true  description  of  that  country  either  in  earlier 
or  later  times,  and  possess  but  few  distinctive  features.  Still 
some  such  distinctive  features  might  have  been  expected  to 
show  themselves,  and  it  must  be  our  object  now  to  inquire, 
first,  what  they  would  be ;  and  secondly,  how  far,  if  at  all, 
they  appear  in  the  narrative. 

First,  then,  what  distinctive  features  would  there  be  sep- 
arating and  marking  off  the  Second  Empire  from  the  First, 

»  Canon  Cook  in  the  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.,  p.  449. 
t  "  Les  Pasteurs  en  Egypte,"  p.  30.  t  Ibid.,  p.  33. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  31.     Brugsch  and  Lenormant  take  the  same  view. 
||  "  Chronographia,"  p.  62,  B. 


126  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

the  Hyksos  rule  from  that  of  the  old  Pharaohs  who  built  the 
Pyramids,  set  up  the  first  obelisks,  and  accomplished  the 
great  works  in  the  Fayoum  ?  In  the  first  place,  their  resi- 
dence would  be  different.  The  pyramid  kings  lived  at  Mem- 
phis, above  the  apex  of  the  Delta,  in  the  (comparatively  speak- 
ing) narrow  valley  of  the  Nile,  before  the  river  enters  on 
the  broad  tract  which  it  must  have  gradually  formed  by  its 
own  deposits.  The  great  monarchs  of  the  obelisk  and 
Fayoum  period — those  assigned  by  Manetho  to  his  eleventh, 
twelfth,  and  thirteenth  dynasties — lived  at  Thebes,  more 
than  three  hundred  miles  further  up  the  coui-se  of  the  Nile, 
in  a  region  from  which  the  Delta  could  only  be  reached  by 
a  lengthy  and  toilsome  journey  along  the  river  bank,  or  by  a 
voyage  down  its  channel.  The  Hyksos  monarchs,  on  the 
other  hand,  fixed  their  residence  in  the  Delta  itself;  they 
selected  Tanis — an  ancient  Egyptian  town  of  considerable 
importance — for  the  main  seat  of  their  court.*  While 
maintaining  a  great  fortified  camp  at  Avaris,  on  their  eastern 
frontier,  where  they  lived  sometimes,  they  still  more  favored 
the  quiet  Egyptian  city  on  the  Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile, 
where  they  could  pass  their  time  away  from  the  sound  of 
arms,  amid  ancient  temples  and  sanctuaries  dedicated  to 
various  Egyptian  gods,  which  they  allowed  to  stand,  if  they 
did  not  even  use  them  for  their  own  worship.  The  Delta 
had  never  previously  been  the  residence  of  Egyptian  kings, 
and  it  did  not  again  become  their  residence  until  the  time  of 
the  nineteenth  dynasty,  shortly  before  the  Exodus. 

A  second  peculiarity  of  the  Hyksos  period,  belonging 
especially  to  its  later  portion,  is  to  be  found  in  the  religious 
views  professed,  proclaimed,  and  enjoined  upon  subject 
princes.  Apepi,  according  to  the  MS.  known  as  "  the  first 
Sallier  papyrus,"  made  a  great  movement  in  Lower  Egypt 
in  favor  of  monotheism.  Whereas  previously  the  shepherd 
kings  had  allowed  among  their  subjects,  if  they  had  not  even 
practised  themselves,  the  worship  of  a  multitude  of  gods, 
Apepi  "  took  to  himself"  a  single  god  "  for  lord,  refusing  to 
s«rve  any  other  god  in  the  whole  land."  f  According  to  the 
Egyptian  writer  of  the  MS.,  the  name  under  which  he  wor- 
s*»iped  his  god  was  "  Sutech  "  ;  and  some  critics  have  sup- 
jr*  «ed  that  he  chose  this  god  out  of  the  existing  Egyptian 

*  Bruasch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  236-7,  1st  edition. 
T  See  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  3. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  127 

Pantheon,  because  he  was  the  god  of  the  North,  where  his 
own  dominion  especially  lay.*  But  Sutech,  though  undoubt- 
edly he  had  a  place  in  the  Egyptian  Pantheon  from  very- 
ancient  times,  t  seems  to  have -been  essentially  an  Asiatic  god, 
the  special  deity  of  the  Hittite  nation, t  with  which  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  shepherd  kings  were  closely  con- 
nected. Apepi,  moved  by  a  monotheistic  impulse,  selected 
Sutech,  we  should  suppose,  rather  out  of  his  own  gods  than 
out  of  the  Egyptian  deities,  and  determined  that,  whatever 
had  been  the  case  previously,  henceforth  he  would  renounce 
polytheism,  and  worship  one  only  lord  and  god,  long  known 
to  his  nation,  and  to  his  own  ancestors,§  under  the  name 
above  mentioned.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  did 
not  identify  him  with  the  Egyptian  god,  Set,  or  Sutech,  but 
rather  with  some  form  or  other  of  the  Egyptian  sun-god,  or 
else  with  their  sun-gods  generally,  since  he  appointed  sacri- 
fice to  be  made  to  Sutech,  "  with  all  the  rites  that  are  per- 
formed in  the  temple  of  Ka-IIarmachis,"  ||  who  was  one  of 
these  gods,  and  required  the  vassal  king  of  Thebes,  Ra- 
Sekenen,  to  neglect  the  worship  of  all  the  other  gods  honored 
in  his  part  of  Egypt,  excepting  Ammori-Ra,  who  was  another 
of  them.  Sutech,  among  the  Hittites,  seems  to  have  been 
equivalent  to  Baal,  and  was  certainly  a  sun-god,1[  probably 
identified  with  the  material  sun  itself,  viewed  as  having  also 
a  spiritual  nature,  and  as  the  creator  and  sustainer  of  the 
universe.  Apepi's  great  temple  of  Sutech  at  Tanis  was  the 
natural  outcome  of  his  exclusive  worship  of  this  god,  and 
showed  forth  in  a  tangible  and  conspicuous  form  the  earnest- 
ness of  his  piety. 

Among  the  changes  in  manners  and  customs  belonging 
to  the  Middle  Empire,  there  is  one  which  cannot  be  gainsaid 
— the  introduction  of  the  horse.  The  horse,  which  is  wholly 
absent  from  the  remains,  written  or  sculptured,  of  the  Old 
Empire,  appears  as  well  known  and  constantly  employed  in 
the  very  earliest  records  of  the  New,  and  must  consequently 
have  made  its  appearance  in  the  interval.  Hence  it  has  been 
argued  by  those  best  acquainted  with  the  ancient  remains 
that  the  military  successes  of  the  Hvksos,  and  especially 

*  Chabas,  "Lcs  Pasteurs  en  Egypte,"  p.  35. 

t  Marietta,  "  Lettre  k  M.  le  Vicomte  de  Rouge","  in  the  Revue 
Archeologique,  vol.v.,  p.  303. 

t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  31.  §  Ibid.,  p.  36. 

II  Ibid.,  vol.  viii.,  p.  3. 
T  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  28,  par.  a 


128  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

their  conquest  of  Egypt,  were  probably  the  result  to  a  con- 
siderable  extent  of  their  invading  the  country  with  a  chariot 
force  and  with  cavalry  at  a  time  when  the  Egyptians  fought 
wholly  on  foot.  Neither  horses  nor  chariots,  nor  even  carts, 
where  known  under  the  Pharaohs  of  the  Old  Empire;  they 
were  employed  largely  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  New 
Empire,  the  change  having  been  effected  by  the  empire 
which  occupied  the  intervening  space. 

Before  proceeding  further,  let  us  consider  how  these 
characteristics  suit  the  Egypt  of  Joseph.  First,  then,  the 
indications  of  Genesis,  though  not  very  precise,  decidedly 
favor  the  view  that  the  king  is  residing  in  the  Delta.  He 
receives  in  person  the  brethren  of  Joseph  on  their  arrival 
in  the  land,  even  has  an  interview  with  the  aged  Jacob  him- 
self (Gen.  xlvii.  7-10),  whom  his  son  would  certainly  not 
have  presented  to  him  if  the  court  had  not  been  near  at 
hand.  Goshen,  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Delta,  is  chosen 
for  the  residence  of  the  family,  especially  because,  dwell- 
ing there,  they  will  be  "  near  to  Joseph  "  (ch.  xlv.  10),  who 
must  have  been  in  constant  attendance  on  the  monarch. 
"  All  the  servants  of  Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  his  house,  and 
all  the  elders  of  the  land  of  Egypt  "  (ch.  1.  7)  would  scarcely 
have  accompanied  the  body  of  Jacob  to  the  cave  of  Mach- 
pelah  unless  the  court  had  been  residing  in  Lower  Egypt. 
Bishop  Harold  Browne,  who  writes  as  a  common-sense  critic, 
and  not  as  an  Egyptologist,  well  observes,  "  Joseph  placed 
his  brethren  naturally  on  the  confines  of  Egypt  nearest  to 
Palestine,  and  yet  near  himself.  It  is  probable  that  Memphis 
or  Tanis  was  then  the  metropolis  of  Egypt?"1*  But  both  be- 
fore and  after  the  shepherd  kings  the  capital  for  many  hun- 
dred years  was  Thebes. 

Secondly,  there  are  indications  in  the  later  chapters  of 
Genesis  that  the  Pharaoh  of  the  time  was  a  monotheist.  Not 
only  does  he  make  no  protest  against  the  pronounced  mono- 
theism of  Joseph  (ch.  xli.  16,  25,  32),  as  Nebuchadnezzar 
does  against  that  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego, 
when  he  draws  the  conclusion  from  their  escape  that  "  no 
other  yod  can  deliver  after  this  sort,"  but  he  uses  himself  the 
most  decidedly  monotheistic  language  when  he  says  to  his 
nobles,  "  Can  we  find  such  a  one  as  this  is — a  man  in  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  is?  "  ib.  38),  and  again  when  headdresses 

•  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.,  p.  215. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  129 

Joseph  as  follows  :  "  Forasmuch  as  God  hath  showed  thee 
act  ehis,  there  is  none  so  discreet  and  wise  as  thou  art  "  (ib. 
39).  No  such  distinct  recognition  of  the  unity  of  God  is 
ascribed  either  to  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Old  Empire  who  re- 
ceived Abraham  (ch.  xii.  15-20),  or  to  those  of  the  New 
Empire  who  came  into  contact  with  Moses  (Exod.  i-xiv.). 

The  contrast  between  the  Egypt  of  Abraham's  time  and 
that  of  the  time  of  Joseph  in  respect  of  horses  has  of  ten  been 
noticed.  As  the  absence  of  horses  from  the  list  of  the 
presents  made  to  Abraham  (ch.  xii.  16)  indicates  with  suffi- 
cient clearness  the  time  of  the  Old  Empire,  so  the  mention 
of  horses,  chariots,  and  wagons  in  connection  with  Joseph 
(ch.  xii.  43 ;  xlvi.  29 ;  xlvii.  17 ;  1.  9)  makes  his  time  either 
that  of  the  Middle  Empire  or  the  New.  The  fact  that  the 
possession  of  horses  does  not  seem  to  be  as  yet  very  com- 
mon points  to  the  Middle  Empire  as  the  more  probable  of 
the  two. 

Certain  leading  features,  moreover,  of  the  narrative,  which 
have  been  reckoned  among  its  main  difficulties,  either  cease 
to  be  difficulties  at  all,  or  are  reduced  to  comparative  insigni- 
ficance, if,  in  accordance  with  tradition  and  with  the  most 
probable  chronology,  we  regard  Joseph  as  the  minister  of  a 
shepherd  king. 

The  native  Egyptian  monarchs  had  an  extreme  jealousy 
of  their  Eastern  neighbors.  The  East  was  the  quarter  from 
which  Egypt  lay  most  open  to  invasion,  and  from  the  later 
times  of  the  Old  Empire  down  to  the  twentieth  dynasty  in 
the  New  there  was  continual  fear,  when  a  native  dynasty  sat 
tipon  the  throne,  lest  immigrants  from  these  parts  should  by 
degrees  filch  away  from  Egypt  the  possessions  of  the  Delta. 
Small  bodies  of  Asiatics,  like  those  who  came  with  Abraham, 
or  the  thirty-seven  Amu  under  Abusha,*  might  occasionally 
be  received  with  favor,  to  sojourn  or  to  dwell  in  the  land ; 
but  larger  settlements  would  have  been  very  distasteful.  An 
early  king  of  the  twelfth  dynasty  built  a  wall  "  to  keep  off 
the  Sakti,"  as  the  Asiatics  of  these  parts  were  called,f  and 
such  powerful  monarchs  as  Seti  I.  and  Kamescs  II.  followed 
his  example.  The  only  kings  who  were  friendly  to  the 
Asiatics,  and  likely  to  receive  a  large  body  of  settlers  with 
favor,  were  the  Hyksos,  Asiatics  themselves,  whom  every  such 
settlement  strengthened  against  the  revolt,  which  always 

•  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  vol.  i. ,  p.  157. 
t  "Records of  the  Past,"  vol.  vi.,  p.  135, 


130  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

threatened,  of  their  Egyptian  subjects.  Now  the  family 
and  dependants  of  Jacob  were  a  large  body  of  settlers.  Abra- 
ham had  three  hundred  and  eighteen  adult  male  servants 
born  in  the  house  (Gen.  xiv.  14).  Jacob's  attendants,  when 
he  returned  from  serving  Laban,  formed  "  two  bands  "  (Gen. 
xxxii.  10),  literally  "two  armies."  The  number  of  those  who 
entered  Egypt  with  Jacob  has  been  reasonably  calculated  at 
"  several  thousands."*  To  place  such  a  body  of  foreigners 
"  in  the  best  of  the  land  "  (ch.  xlvii.  6,  11),  on  the  eastern 
frontier,  where  they  could  readily  give  admission  to  others, 
is  what  no  king  of  either  the  Old  or  the  New  Empire  would 
have  been  likely  to  have  done ;  but  it  is  exactly  what  might 
have  been  expected  of  one-of  the  Hyksos. 

Again,  the  sudden  elevation  of  a  foi-eigner  from  the  slave 
condition  to  the  second  place  in  the  kingdom,  the  putting 
him  above  all  the  Egyptians  and  making  them  bow  down  to 
him  (ch.  xli.  43),  and  the  giving  him  in  marriage  the  daughter 
of  the  high-priest  of  Heliopolis  (ib.  45),  though  perhaps 
within  the  prerogative  of  any  Egyptian  king,  who,  as  a  god 
upon  earth, — "  son  of  the  sun," — could  do  no  wrong,  are  yet 
exceedingly  unlikely  things,  if  Egypt  were  in  its  normal 
condition.  It  is  far  from  paralleled  by  the  "story  of  Saneha," 
even  if  that  story  is  a  true  one,  and  not  a  novelette ; 
for  Saneha's  rise  is  very  gradual ;  he  is  a  courtier  in  his 
youth ;  he  commits  an  offence,  and  flies  to  a  foreign  land, 
where  he  passes  the  greater  part  of  his  life  ;  it  is  not  until 
he  is  an  old  man  that  his  pardon  reaches  him,  and  he  returns, 
and  is  restored  to  favor;  nor  does  he  rise  even  then  to  a 
rank  at  all  equal  to  that  of  Joseph. f  Joseph's  history  would 
have  been  "  incredible "  if  Egypt  had  never  had  foreign 
rulers.}  But  a  Hyksos  monarch  would  be  trammeled  by 
none  of  the  feelings  or  restraints  natural  to  an  Egyptian.  A 
foreigner  himself,  he  would  be  glad  to  advance  a  foreigner, 
would  not  be  very  careful  of  offending  a  high-priest,  and 
would  feel  more  confidence  in  committing  important  affairs 
to  a  stranger  wholly  dependent  upon  himself  than  to  a  native 
who  might  at  any  time  turn  traitor. 

Our  limits  will  not  allow  us  to  treat  this  point  at  greater 
length.  It  is  necessary,  however,  before  concluding  this 
chapter,  to  notice  briefly  two  objections  which  Genesis 

-  •  Kurtz,  "  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  149,  E.  T, 
t  "  Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  vi.,  pp.  135-150. 
J  Stuart  Poolo  in  Smith's  "  Diet  of  the  Bible,"  vol.  i.,  p.  509. 


NOTICES  IN  GENESIS.  131 

is  supposed  to  offer  to  the  traditional  view  of  Joseph's  place 
in  Egyptian  history.  The  first  is  the  designation  of  Goshen 
in  one  passage  (ch.  xlvii.  11)  as  "  the  land  of  Kameses."  Now 
Rameses  is  a  name  which  first  appears  in  Egypt  under  the 
New  Empire,  and  a  land  "  of  Rameses  "  is  not  likely  to  have 
existed  until  there  had  been  a  monarch  of  the  name,  which 
first  happened  under  the  nineteenth  dynasty.  But  it  is  quite 
possible,  as  Bishop  Harold  Browne  suggests,  that  the  writer 
of  Genesis  may  have  used  the  phrase,  "  land  of  Rameses," 
by  anticipation,*  to  designate  the  tract  so  called  in  his  day. 
This  would  be  merely  as  if  a  modern  writer  were  to  say  that 
the  Romans  under  Julius  Ccesar  invaded  England,  or  that 
Pontius  Pilate,  when  recalled  from  Judaea,  was  banished  to 
f ranee. 

The  other  objection  is  drawn  from  the  statement  that  in 
Joseph's  time  "  every  shepherd  was  an  abomination  to  the 
Egyptians  "  (ch.  xlvi.  34).  This  is  said  to  be  "  quite  conclu- 
sive" against  the  view  that  the  Pharaoh  of  Joseph  was  a 
shepherd  king.f  But  it  is  admitted  that  the  prejudice  was 
anterior  to  the  invasion  of  the  Hvksos,  and  appears  on  the 
monuments  of  the  Old  Empire.  It  would  certainly  not  have 
been  lessened  by  the  Hyksos  conquest,  nor  can  the  shepherd 
kings  be  supposed  to  have  been  ignorant  of  it.  If  it  was  a 
caste  prejudice,  it  would  have  been  quite  beyond  their  power 
to  put  down  ;  and  nothing  would  have  been  left  for  them  but 
to  bear  with  it,  and  make  the  best  of  it.  This  is  what  they 
seem  to  have  done.  When  men  of  the  nomadic  races  were 
feasted  at  the  Hyksos  court,  they  were  feasted  separately 
from  the  Egyptians  (ch.  xliii.  32) ;  and  when  a  nomad  tribe 
had  to  be  located  on  Egyptian  territory,  it  was  placed  in  a 
position  which  brought  it  as  little  as  possible  into  contact 
with  the  natives.  Pharaoh  had  already  put  his  own  herds- 
men in  Goshen  (ch.  xlvii.  6),  with  the  view  of  isolating  them. 
In  planting  the  Israelite  settlers  there,  he  did  but  follow  the 
same  principle.  Like  a  wise  ruler,  he  arranged  to  keep 
apart  those  diverse  elements  in  the  population  of  his  country 
which  were  sure  not  to  amalgamate. 

"*  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.,  p.  221. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  449,  note  "33. 


132  EGYPT  AMD  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    NOTICES    OF    EGYPT   IK   EXODUS. 

"  Now  there  arose  up  a  new  king  over  Egypt,  which  knew  no< 
Joseph.  And  he  said  unto  his  people,  Behold,  the  people  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  are  more  and  mightier  than  we;  come  on,  let  us  deal 
wisely  with  them,  lest  they  multiply,  and  it  come  to  pass  that,  when 
there  falleth  out  any  war,  they  join  also  unto  our  enemies,  and  fight 
against  us,  and  so  get  them  up  out  of  the  land.  Therefore  they  did 
set  over  them  taskmasters,  to  afflict  them  with  their  hurdens.  And 
they  built  for  Pharaoh  treasure-cities,  Pithom  and  Kaamses."— EXOD. 
i.  8-19. 

THE  question  of  the  period  of  Egyptian  history  into 
which  the  severe  oppression  of  the  Israelites,  and  their 
"  exodus  "  from  Egypt,  are  to  be  regarded  as  falling,  is  one 
of  no  little  interest,  and  at  the  same  time  of  no  little  diffi- 
culty. In  the  last  chapter  we  saw  reason  for  accepting  the 
view  that  the  Pharaoh  whom  Joseph  served  wasApepi,  the 
last  king  of  the  seventeenth  (shepherd)  dynasty.  In  order, 
however,  to  obtain  from  this  fact  any  guidance  as  to  the 
dynasty,  and  still  more  as  to  the  kings,  under  whom  the 
events-  took  place  which  are  related  in  the  first  section  of  the 
Book  of  Exodus  (chs  i.-xiv.),  we  have  to  determine,  first  of 
all,  what  was  the  length  of  the  Egyptian  sojourn.  But  here 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  jaws  of  a  great  controversy.  Taking 
the  Authorized  Version  as  our  sole  guide,  we  should  indeed 
think  the  matter  plain  enough,  for  there  we  are  told  (ch.  xii. 
40,  41), that  "the  sojourning  of  the  children  of  Israel,  who 
dwelt  in  Egypt,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years;  and  it 
came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  i/cars, 
•even  the  selfsame  day  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  the  hosts  of  the 
Lord  went  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt."  If  we  consult  the 
Hebrew  original,  the  plainness  and  certainty  seem  increased, 
for  there  we  find  that  the  words  run  thus  : — "  The  sojourn- 
ing of  the  children  of  Israel,  which  they  sojourned  in 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  133 

vf as  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,"  which  seem  to  leave  no 
loophole  of  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  the  four  hundred 
and  thirty  years  mentioned  are  those  of  Israel's  stay  in 
Efjupt.  And  it  is  quite  admitted  that  thus  far — if  this  were 
all  the  evidence — there  could,  be  no  controversy  upon  the 
subject.  Doubt  arises  from  the  fact  that  in  the  two  most 
ancient  versions  of  Exodus  that  we  possess  the  passage  runs 
differently.  We  read  in  the  Septuagint,  "  The  sojourning 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  which  they  sojourned  in  Egypt  and 
in  the  land  of  Canaan,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years ;" 
and  in  the  Samaritan  version,  "  The  sojourning  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  and  of  their  fathers,  which  they  sojourned  in 
the  land  of  Canaan  and  in  Egypt,  was  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years."  Xor  is  this  the  whole.  St.  Paul,  it  is  observed, 
writing  to  the  Galatians  (ch.  iii.  17),  makes  the  giving  of  the 
law  from  Mount  Sinai  "four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after," 
not  the  going  down  into  Egypt,  but  the  entering  into  cove- 
nant with  Abraham.  And  it  is  further  argued  that  the  gene- 
alogies for  the  time  of  the  stay  in  Egypt  are  incompatible 
with  the  long  period  of  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and 
require  the  cutting  down  of  the  time  to  the  dimensions  im- 
plied by  the  Septuagint  and  Samaritan  translations.  This 
time  is  two  hundred  and  fifteen  years,  or  exactly  half  the 
other,  since  it  was  two  hundred  and  fifteen  years  from  the 
promise  made  to  Abraham  until  the  entering  of  the  Israel- 
ites into  Egypt.  t 

Now,  if  the  Exodus  was  but  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
years  after  any  date  in  the  reign  of  Apepi,  it  must  have  fallen 
within  the  period  assigned  by  Manetho  and  the  monuments 
to  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  But  if  we  are  to  substitute  four 
hundred  and  thirty  years  for  two  hundred  and  fifteen,  it 
must  have  belonged  rather  to  the  latter  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth. Let  us  consider,  therefore,  whether  on  the  whole 
the  weight  of  argument  is  in  favor  of  the  shorter  or  the 
longer  term  of  years. 

First,  then,  with  regard  to  the  versions.  The  Hebrew 
text  must  always  be  considered  of  paramount  authority,  un- 
less there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  it  has  been  tampered  with. 
But,  in  this  case,  there  is  no  such  reason.  Had  the  clause 
inserted  by  the  LXX.  existed  in  the  Hebrew  original,  there 
is  no  assignable  ground  on  which  we  can  imagine  it  left  out. 
There  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  readilv  conceivable  ground  for 
the  insertion  of  the  clause  by  the  LXX.  in  their  anxiety  to 


134  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

harmonize  their  chronology  with  the  Egyptian  system  preva- 
lent in  their  day.  Farther,  the  clause  has  the  appearance 
of  an  insertion,  being  irrelevant  to  the  narrative,  which  is 
naturally  concerned  at  this  point  with  Egypt  only.  The 
Samaritan  version  may  appear  at  first  sight  to  lend  the  Sep- 
tuagint confirmation ;  but  a  little  examination  shows  the 
contrary.  The  Samaritan  translator  has  the  Septuagint 
before  him,  but  is  dissatisfied  with  the  way  in  which  his 
Greek  predecessor  has  amended  the  Hebrew  text.  His  version 
is  an  amendment  of  the  Greek  text  in  two  points.  First,  he 
sees  that  the  name  "  children  of  Israel  "  could  not  properly 
be  given  to  any  but  the  descendants  of  Jacob,  and  therefore 
he  inserts  the  clause  "  and  of  their  fathers."  Secondly,  he 
observes  that  the  LXX.  have  inverted  the  historical  order  of 
the  sojourns  in  Egypt  and  in  Canaan,  placing  that  in  Egypt 
first.  This  he  corrects  by  a  transposition.  No  one  can  sup- 
pose that  he  derived  his  emendations  from  the  Hebrew. 
He  evolved  them  from  his  inner  consciousness.  He  gave  his 
readers,  not  what  Moses  had  said,  but  what,  in  his  opinion, 
he  ought  to  have  said. 

Secondly,  with  respect  to  St.  Paul's  statement  to  the  Gal- 
atians,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  wrote  to  Greek- 
speaking  Jews,  whose  only  Bible  was  the  Septuagint  Version, 
and  that  he  could  not  but  follow  it  unless  he  was  prepared 
to  intrude  on  them  a  chronological  discussion,  which  would 
in  no  way  have  advanced  his  argument.  His  argument  is 
that  the  law  having  been  given  long  after  the  covenant 
made  with  Abraham,  could  not  disannul  it ;  how  long  after 
was  of  no  consequence,  whether  four  hundred  and  thirty  or 
six  hundred  and  forty-five  years. 

Thirdly,  the  genealogies  of  the  period,  as  given  in  the 
Pentateuch,  contain  undoubtedly  no  more  than  six  names — 
in  fact,  vary  between  four  and  six — which,  taken  by  itself,  is 
doubtless  an  argument  for  the  shorter  period.  But  (a)  the 
Jews  constantly  abbreviated  genealogies  by  the  omission  of 
a  portion  of  the  names  (Ezra  vii.  1-5  ;  Matt.  i.  2-16  ;  comp.  1 
Chron.  ix  4-19  with  Neh.  xi.  4-22) ;  and  (b)  there  is  one 
geneology  belonging  to  the  period,  given  in  1  Chron.  vii. 
22-27,  that  of  Joshua,  which  contains  ten  names.  The 
Hebrews,  at  this  portion  of  their  history,  and  indeed  to  a 
considerably  later  date,  reckoned  a  generation  at  forty  years, 
so  that  the  ten  generations  from  Jacob  to  Joshua,  who  was 
fully  grown  up  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus  (Exod.  xvii.  9-13), 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  135 

would  cover  four  hundred  years,  or  not  improbably  a  little 
more. 

Another  argument  in  favor  of  the  longer  date  is  derivable 
from  the  terms  of  the  announcement  made  to  Abraham  with 
respect  to  the  Egyptian  servitude : — "  Know  of  a  surety,  that 
thy  seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a  land  that  is  not  theirs,  and 
shall  serve  them,  and  they  shall  afflict  them  four  hundred 
years ;  and  also  that  nation,  whom  they  shall  serve,  will  I 
judge  ;  and  afterward  shall  they  come  out  with  great  sub- 
stance "  (Gen.  xv.  13,  14).  In  this  prophecy  but  one  land  is 
spoken  of,  and  but  one  people ;  this  people  is  to  afflict  Israel 
for  four  hundred  years  ;  it  is  then  to  be  judged;  and,  after 
the  judgement,  Israel  is  to  "  come  out,"  to  come  out,  more- 
over, with  great  substance.  Nothing  is  said  that  can  by  any 
possibility  allude  to  the  Canaanites,  or  the  land  of  Canaan. 
One  continuous  affliction  in  one  country,  and  by  one  people, 
lasting  in  round  numbers — four  hundred  years,  is  announced 
with  the  utmost  plainness. 

But  the  crowning  argument  of  all,  which  ought  to  be  re- 
garded as  completely  settling  the  question,  is  that  derivable 
from  the  numbers  of  the  Israelites  on  entering  and  on  quitting 
Egypt.  Their  numbers,  indeed,  on  entering,  cannot  be  defi- 
nitely fixed,  since  they  went  down  to  Egypt  "with  their 
households  "  (Exod.  i.  1),  and  these,  to  judge  by  that  of 
Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  14),  were  very  numerous.  Still  no  writer 
has  supposed  that  altogether  the  settlers  exceeded  more  than 
a  few — say  two  or  three — thousands.*  On  quitting  Egypt, 
they  were,  at  the  lowest  estimate,  two  millions.  What  time, 
then,  is  required,  under  favorable  circumstances,  for  the  ex- 
pansion of  a  body  (say)  of  two  thousand  persons  into  one  a 
thousand  times  that  number? 

There  are  writers  who  have  argued  that  population  may 
double  itself  in  the  space  of  fifteen,  nay,  in  that  of  thirteen 
years. f  But  I  know  of  no  proved  instance  of  the  kind  where 
there  has  not  been  a  large  influx  through  immigration.  No 
increase,  or,  at  any  rate,  no  important  increase,  of  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt  can  be  assigned  to  this  cause.  They  mul- 
tiplied, as  is  distinctly  implied  in  the  narrative,  in  the  ordi- 
nary way,  without  foreign  accretion.  It  is  reasonable, 

*  Kurtz  ("  History  of  the  Old  Covenant."  vol.  ii.,  p.  149)  uses  the 
vague  expression,  "several  thousands."  Dean  Payne  Smith,  in  his 
"  Bramnton  Lectures  "  (p.  89),  suggests  three  thousand- 

t  Clfnton,  "  Fasti  Hellenici,"  vol.  i..  p.  294 


136  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

therefore,  to  apply  to  them  Mr.  Malthus's  law  for  the  natural 
increase  of  population  by  descent  under  favorable  circum- 
stances. Now  this  is  a  doubling  of  the  population,  not  every 
thirteen,  or  every  fifteen,  but  every  twenty-five  years.*  By 
this  law  two  thousand  persons  would,  in  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  years,  have  multiplied  to  the  extent,  not  of  two  mil- 
lions, but  of  less  than  one  million.  The  law,  moreover,  only 
acts  where  population  is  scanty,  where  the  sanitary  circum- 
stances are  favorable,  and  where  the  means  of  subsistence 
are  wholesome,  and  readily  obtained.  Long  before  the  time 
that  the  Israelites  reached  a  quarter  of  a  million,  most  of  the 
artificial  checks  which  tend  to  keep  down  the  natural  increase 
of  population  would  have  begun  to  operate  among  them. 
The  territory  assigned  them  was  not  a  very  large  one,  and 
they  were  not  its  sole  inhabitants  (Gen.  xlvii.  6  ;  Exod.  iii.  22, 
xii.  31-36).  It  would  soon  be  pretty  densely  peopled.  The 
tasks  in  which  they  were  employed  by  their  Egyptian  lords, 
from  the  time  that  the  severe  oppression  began  (Exod.  i.  13, 
14),  could  not  be  favorable  to  health.  They  were  no  doubt 
sufficiently  well  fed,  as  slaves  usually  are,  but  not  on  a  very 
wholesome  dietary  (Num.  xi  5).  The  rate  of  increase  would 
naturally  fall  under  these  circumstances,  and  it  may  ere  long 
have  taken  them  fifty  years  to  double  their  numbers,  which 
is  about  the  rate  now  existing  among  ourselves.  Supposing 
them  to  have  been  two  thousand  at  the  first,  and  to  have 
doubled  their  numbers  at  the  end  of  the  first  twenty-five  years, 
but  to  have  required  five  years  longer  for  each  successive  du- 
plication until  the  full  term  of  fifty  years  was  reached,  it 
would  have  taken  them  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  years 
to  reach  the  amount  of  two  millions. 

Altogether  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  an  increase  which 
is  abnormal,  and  requires  some  explanation,  if  it  be  regarded 
as  occupying  the  space  of  four  hundred  and  thirty  years, 
must  be  most  unlikely,  if  not  impossible,  to  have  occurred 
in  half  that  time. 

If  then  we- take  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  from  the 
early  part  of  Apepi's  reign,  and  follow  the  line  of  the 
Egyptian  kings,  as  we  find  it  in  Manetho,  or  in  the  monu- 
ments, we  are  carried  on  beyond  the  time  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty  into  that  of  the  nineteenth,  and  have  to  look  for  the 
monarchs  mentioned  in  Exodus  among  those  who  reigned 

•"Essay  on  Population,"  vol.  i.,  p.  8  ;  "  Encyclopaedia  Britan« 
nica,"  vol.  xviii.,  p.  340. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  137 

/ 

in  Egypt  between  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty  and 
the  commencement  of  the  twentieth. 

Before  proceeding,  however,  with  this  inquiry,  it  seems 
natural  to  ask,  Is  there  no  tradition  with  respect  to  the  time 
of  the  Exodus  in  Egyptian  history,  as  we  found  that  there 
was  with  respect  to  the  time  of  Joseph  ;  and  if  there  is  any 
such  tradition,  what  is  it  ? 

The  Egyptian  tradition  was  delivered  at  great  length  by 
Manetho,  whose  account  is  preserved  to  us  in  Josephus.*  it 
was  also  reported  more  briefly  by  Chseremon.f  It  placed 
the  Exodus  in  the  reign  of  an  "  Amenophis,"  who  was  the 
son  of  a  "  Rameses,"  and  the  father  of  a  "  Sethos."  Each 
of  these  two  facts  belong  to  one  "  Amenophis  "  only  out  of 
the  four  or  five  in  Manetho's  lists,  and  we  have  thus  a  double 
certainty  that  he  intended  the  monarch  of  the  nineteenth 
dynasty,  who  was  the  son  and  successor  of  Rameses  II ., 
commonly  called  "  Rameses  the  Great,"  and  was  himself  suc- 
ceeded on  the  throne  by  his  son,  Seti-Menephthah,  or  Seti 
II.,  about  B.  c.  1300,  or  a  little  earlier.  There  is  no  other 
Egyptian  tradition,  excepting  one  reported  by  George  the 
Syncellus,*  which  is  wholly  incompatible  with  the  univer- 
sally allowed  synchronism  of  Joseph  with  Apepi,  and  quite 
unworthy  of  consideration  ;  viz.,  that  the  Exodus  took  place 
'under  Amasis  (Aahmes),  the  first  king  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty,  who  was  probably  contemporary  with  the  later 
years  of  Joseph  himself. 

Manetho's  tradition  then,  harmonizing,  as  it  does,  with 
the  chronological  considerations  above  adduced,  which  would 
place  the  Exodus  tmcards  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty, 
seems  to  deserve  our  accedtance,  and  indeed  has  been  ac- 
cepted by  the  great  bulk  of  modern  Egyptologists,  as  by 
Brugsch,  Birch,  Lenormant,  Chabas,  and  others.§  Allowing 
it,  we  are  able  to  fix  definitely  on  the  three  Pharaohs  especi- 
ally concerned  in  the  severe  oppression  of  the  Israelites, 
and  thus  to  give  a  vividness  and  realism  to  our  conception 
of  the  period  of  history  treated  of  in  Exod.  i.-xiv.  which 
add  greatly  to  the  interest  of  the  narrative. 

*  Joseph.,  "  Contra  Apion,"  i.  §  26.  t  Ibid.,  §  32. 

}  "  Chronographia,  p.  62,  B. 

§  See  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  vol.  ii.  p.  125;  Birch,  "  Egypt 
from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  133;  Lenormant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire 
Ancienne  de  1'Orient,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  292,  edition  of  1882;  Chabas,  "Re- 
cherches  pour  servir  a  1'histoire  de  la  Xixme  Dynastie,"  p.  157. 


138  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

If  Menephthah  I.,  the  son  and  successor  of  Rameses  II., 
was  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  it  follows  necessarily  that 
his  father,  the  great  Rameses,  was  the  king  of  Exod.  ii.,  from 
whom  Moses  fled,  and  after  whose  death  he  .was  directed  to 
quit  Midian  and  return  into  Egypt  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
livering his  brethren  (eh.  ii.  23  ;  iv.  16).  But  as  Moses  was 
eighty  years  old  at  this  time  (ch.  vii,  7),  it  is  evident  that 
the  Pharaoh  from  whom  he  fled  cannot  be  the  same  with  the 
one  who,  more  than  eighty  years  previously,  gave  the  order 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Hebrew  male  children  (ch.  i.  22). 
The  narrative  of  Exodus  must  speak  of  three  Pharaohs,  of 
the  first  in  ch.  i.,  of  the  second  in  ch.  ii.,  and  of  the  third  in 
chs.  v.-xiv..  In  the  second  of  these  is  Rameses  II.,  the  father 
of  Menephthah  I.,  the  first  must  be  Seti  I.,  the  father  of 
Rameses  II. 

Now,  it  happens  that  Seti  I.  and  Rameses  II.  are  among 
the  most  distinguished  of  all  the  Egyptian  monai-chs,  great 
warriors,  great  builders,  setters-up  of  numerous  inscriptions. 
We  know  them  almost  better  than  any  other  Egyptian  kings, 
are  familiar  with  their  very  countenances,  have  ample  means 
of  forming  an  estimate  of  their  characters  from  their  own 
words.  Seti  I.  may  well  be  the  "  new  king,  which  knew 
not  Joseph."  He  was  the  second  king  of  a  new  dynasty,  un- 
connected with  either  of  the  dynasties  with  which  Joseph 
had  been  contemporary.  He  came  to  the  throne  at  the  time 
when  a  new  danger  to  Egypt  had  sprung  up  on  the  north- 
eastern frontier,  and  when  consequently  it  was  natural  that 
fear  should  be  felt  by  the  Egyptian  ruler  lest,  "  when  any 
war  fell  out,  the  people  of  Israel  should  join  unto  Egypt's 
enemies,  and  fight  against  the  Egyptians,  and  so  get  them 
up  out  of  the  land"  (ver.  10).  The  Hittites  had  become 
masters  of  Syria,  and  were  dominant  over  the  whole  region 
from  Mount  Taurus  to  Philistia.  "  Scarcely  was  Seti  settled 
upon  the  throne,  when  he  found  himself  menaced  on  the 
north-east  by  a  formidable  combination  of  Semitic  with 
Turanian  races,  which  boded  ill  for  the  tranquility  of  his 
kingdom."  *  He  was  occupied  in  a  war  with  them  for  some 
years.  At  its  close  he  engaged  in  the  construction,  or 
reparation,  of  a  great  wall  for  the  defence  of  the  eastern 
frontier.  It  would  be  natural  that,  in  connection  with  this 
wall,  and  as  a  part  of  his  general  system  for  the  protection 

*  Rawlinson,  "  History  of  Ancient  Egypt,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  287. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  139 

of  the  frontier,  he  should  build  "  treasure-cities"  (ver.  11), 
or  more  properly  "  store-cities,"  i.e.,  arsenals  and  magazines. 
That  he  should  name  one  of  these  after  a  god  whom  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  honoring,*  and  the  other  after  his  father,  or 
after  his  son,  whom  he  early  associated,  is  not  surprising. 
The  ardor  for  building  which  characterized  him  would  ac- 
count for  his  employing  the  Israelites  so  largely  "  in  mortar, 
and  in  brick  "  (ver.  14),  and  in  the  construction  of  edifices. 
The  severity  of  his  oppression  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
cruelty  which  he  exhibited  in  his  wars,  and  of  which  he 
boasts  in  his  inscriptions.! 

Rameses  II.  was  associated  on  the  throne  by  his  father 
when  he  was  ten  or  eleven  years  of  age.  The  two  kings 
then  reigned  conjointly  for  about  twenty  years.  Rameses 
outlived  his  father  forty-seven  years,  and  probably  had  the 
real  direction  of  the  government  for  about  sixty  years. 
There  is  no  other  reign  in  the  New  Empire  which  reaches 
nearly  to  the  length  of  his.  He  was  less  of  a  warrior  than 
his  father,  and  more  of  a  builder.  Among  his  principal 
works  was  the  completion  of  the  city  of  Rameses  (Pi- 
Ramesu),  began  by  his  father,  and  made  by  Rameses  the 
residence  of  the  court,  and  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  the  em- 
pire. He  appears  also  to  have  completed  Pithom  (Pi-Turn), 
and  to  have  entirely  built  many  other  important  towns.  All 
his  works  were  raised  by  means  of  forced  labor ;  and  for 
the  purpose  of  their  construction  he  required  an  enormous 
mass  of  human  material,  which  had  to  be  constantly  em- 
ployed under  taskmasters  in  the  most  severe  and  exhausting 
toil,  under  a  burning  sun,  and  with  few  sanitary  precautions. 
M.  Lenormant  says  of  him  and  his  "great  works"  t : — "  Ce 
n'est  qu'avec  un  veritable  sentiment  d'horreur  que  1'on  peut 
songer  aux  milliers  de  captifs  qui  durent  mourir  sous  le  baton 
des  gardes-chiourmes,  ou  bien  victimes  des  fatigues  exces- 
sives  et  des  privations  de  toute  nature,  en  61cvant  en  qualite 
de  forpats  les  gigantesques  constructions  auxquelles  se 
plaisait  1'insatiable  orgueil  du  monarque  egyptien.  Dans 
les  monuments  du  regne  de  Ramses  il  n'y  a  pas  une  pierre, 
pour  ainsi  dire,  qui  n'ait  coute  une  vie  humaine."  Such  was 
the  character  of  the  monarch  under  whom  the  Israelites  are 
said  to  have  "  sighed  by  reason  of  their  bondage,"  and  to 

*  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  119. 
t  "  History  of  Ancient  Egypt,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  288-291. 
}  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  i.  423. 


140  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

have  "  cried  "  so  that  "  their  cry  came  up  to  God  by  reason 
of  their  bondage  ;  and  God  heard  their  groaning,  and  God 
remembered  His  covenant  with  Abraham,  with  Isaac,  and 
with  Jacob ;  and  God  looked  upon  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  God  had  respect  unto  them  "  (Exod.  ii.  25-25). 

Besides  his  suitability  in  character  to  be  the  Pharaoh 
who  continued  the  severe  oppression  begun  by  Seti  I., 
Rameses  II.,  by  the  great  length  of  his  reign,  exactly  fits 
into  the  requirements  of  the  Biblical  narrative.  The  narra- 
tive requires  for  its  second  Pharaoh  a  king  who  reigned  at  least 
forty  years,  probably  longer.  The  New  Empire  furnishes 
only  three  reigns  of  the  necessary  duration, — those  of  Thoth- 
mes  III.  (fifty-four  years),  Rameses  II.  (sixty-seven  years), 
and  Psammetichus  I.  (fifty-four  years).  Psammetichus,  who 
reigned  from  B.  c.  667  to  613,  is  greatly  too  late  ;  Thothmes 
III  is  very  much  too  early ;  Rameses  II.  alone  verges  upon 
the  time  at  which  the  severe  oppression  must  necessarily  be 
placed.  It  can  scarcely  be  a  coincidence  that  Egyptian  tra- 
dition should  point  out  Menephthah  I.  as  the  Pharaoh  of  the 
Exodus,  and  that,  the  Biblical  narrative  assigning  to  his  pre- 
decessor an  exceptionally  long  reign,  the  monuments  and 
Manetho  should  agree  in  giving  to  that  predecessor  the  ex- 
ceptionally long  reign  of  sixty-six  or  sixty-seven  years. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  141 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

FURTHER  NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  EXODUS. 

THE  portraits  of  the  first  and  second  Pharaohs  men- 
tioned in  the  Book  of  Exodus  are  only  faintly  and  slightly 
sketched.  That  of  the  third  monarch — "the  Pharaoh  of 
the  Exodus,"  as  he  is  commonly  .termed — is,  on  the  contrary, 
presented  to  us  with  much  clearness  and  distinctness,  though 
without  effort  or  conscious  elaboration.  He  is  an  oppressor 
as  merciless  as  either  of  his  predecessors,  as  deaf  to  pity,  as 
determined  to  crush  the  aspirations  of  the  Hebrews  by  hard 
labor.  To  him  belongs  the  ingenious  device  for  aggravating 
suffering,  which  has  passed  into  the  proverbial  phraseology 
of  modern  Europe,  the  requirement  of  bricks  without  straw 
(ch.  v.  7-19).  He  disregards  the  afflictions  of  his  own  coun- 
trymen as  completely  as  those  of  his  foreign  slaves,  and  con- 
tinues fixed  in  his  determination  not  to  "  let  Israel  go," 
until  he  suffers  the  loss  of  his  own  first-born  (ch.  xii.  29-32). 
When  finally  he  has  been  induced  to  allow  the  Hebrews  to 
withdraw  themselves  from  his  land,  he  suddenly  repents  of 
his  concession,  pursues  after  them,  and  seeks,  not  so  much 
to  prevent  their  escape,  as  to  destroy  them  to  the  last  man 
(ch.  xv.  9)  To  this  harshness  and  cruelty  of  temper  he  adds 
a  remarkable  weakness  and  vacillation — he  will  and  he  will 
•not;  he  makes  promises  and  retracts  them  ;  he  "thrusts  the 
Israelites  out "  (ch.  xi.  I ;  xii.  31),  and  then  rushes  after  them 
at  the  head  of  all  the  troops  that  he  can  muster  (ch.  xiv. 
5-9).  Further — and  this  is  most  remarkable — unlike  the 
generality  of  Egyptian  monarchs,  he  seems  to  be  deficient 
in  personal  courage ;  at  any  rate,  there  is  no  appearance  of 
his  having  imperilled  himself  in  the  attack  made  on  the 
Israelites  at  the  Red  Sea, — "  the  Egyptians  pursued,  and 
went  in  after  them  to  the  midst  of  the  sea,  even  all  Pharaoh's 
horses,  his  chariots,  and  his  horsemen"  (ch.  xiv.  23)  ;  but 
not,  so  far  as  appears,  Pharaoh  himself.  This,  indeed  has 


1 42  EG  YP T  A ND  BAB  YL ON. 

been  disputed,  and  Ps.  cxxxvi.  15  ;  has.  been  quoted  as  a 
positive  proof  to  the  contrary  ;  *  but  the  expression  of  a 
poet  who  wrote  some  centuries  after  the  event  would  be 
very  weak  evidence  with  respect  to  the  fact,  besides  which 
his  statement  is,  not  that  the  Pharaoh  was  killed,  but  that 
he  was  "  overthrown."  Neither  the  narrative  in  Exod.  xiv. 
nor  the  song  of  rejoicing  in  the  following  chapter  contains 
the  slightest  allusion  to  the  Pharaoh's  death,  an  omission  al- 
most inconceivable  if  he  really  perished  with  his  warriors. f 
Further,  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus  seems  to  have  been 
grossly  and  abnormally  superstitious,  one  who  put  real  trust 
in  magicians  and  sorcerers,  and  turned  to  them  in  times  of 
difficulty  rather  than  to  statesmen  and  persons  of  experience 
in  affairs. 

What,  then,  does  profane  history  tell  us  of  the  Men- 
ephthah  whom  we  have  shown  to  be  at  once  the  traditional 
"  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus "  and  the  king  pointed  out  by 
chronological  considerations  as  the  ruler  of  Egypt  at  the 
period  ?  M.  Lenormant  begins  his  account  of  him  by  observ- 
ing, £  "Moreover,  he  was  neither  a  soldier  nor  an  adminis- 
trator, but  one  whose  mind  was  turned  almost  exclusively 
towards  the  chimeras  of  sorcery  and  magic,  resembling  in 
this  respect  his  brother,  Kha-m-uas."  "The  Book  of  Ex- 
odus," he  adds,  "  is  in  the  most  exact  agreement  with  his- 
torical truth  when  it  depicts  him  as  surrounded  by  priest- 
magicians,  with  whom  Moses  contends  in  working  prodigies, 
in  order  to  affect  the  mind  of  the  Pharaoh."§ 

Later  on  in  his  history  of  Menephthah,  M.  Lenormant 
has  the  following  passage.  ||  He  is  describing  the  great  in- 
vasion of  Libyans  and  others  which  Menephthah  repulsed 
in  his  fifth  year.  "  The  barbarians  advanced  without  meet- 
ing any  serious  resistance.  The  terrified  population  either 
fled  before  them,  or  made  its  submission,  but  attempted 
nothing  like  a  struggle.  Already  had  the  invading  army 
reached  the  neighborhood  of  Pa-ari-sheps,  the  Prosopis  of 

*  Canon  Cook  in  the  "  Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.,  p.  309. 

t  That  the  Pharaoh  did  not  perish  is  maintained  by  Wilkinson 
("Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  i.,  p.  54),  Chabas  ( "Recherchcs  pour  scrvir 
a  1'histoire  de  1'Egypte,"  pp.  152,  1(11),  Lenormant  ("Manuel  d'His- 
toire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  292,  edition  of  1883),  and  others. 

|  '•  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  281  (edition  of  1883) 

§  Ibid. 

II  Ibid.,  p.  289.  Compare  "Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  iv.,  pp. 
41-44. 


NOTICES  7AT  KJfODrs.  143 

the  Greeks;  On  (Heliopolis)  and  Man-nofri  (Memphis)  were 
seriously  threatened.  Menephthah  assembled  his  army  in 
front  of  these  two  towns,  in  order  to  cover  them  ;  he  drew 
from  Asia  a  number  of  mercenaries,  to  supply  the  lack  of 
Egyptian  soldiers  of  sufficient  experience  ;  at  the  same  time 
he  fortified  the  banks  of  the  middle  branch  of  the  Nile,  to 
prevent  the  enemy  from  crossing  it,  and  to  place  in  safety, 
at  any  rate,  the  eastern  half  of  the  Delta.  Sending  forward 
in  advance,  first  of  all,  his  chariot-force  and  his  light-armed 
auxiliaries,  the  Pharaoh  promised  to  join  the  battle  array 
with  the  bulk  of  his  troops  at  the  end  of  fourteen  days.  But 
he  was  not  personally  fond  of  actual 'fight,  and  disliked  ex- 
posing himself  to  the  chance  of  defeat.  An  apparition  of 
the  god  Phthah,  which  he  saw  in  a  dream,  warned  him  that 
his  lofty  rank  required  him  not  to  cross  the  river.  He  there- 
foresent  his  army  to  the  combat  under  the  command  of 
some  of  his  father's  generals,  who  were  still  living."  Two 
features  of  Menephthah's  character,  as  represented  in  Scrip- 
ture, are  here  illustrated :  his  want  of  personal  courage  and 
his  habit  of  departing  from  his  promises  with  or  without  a 
pretext.  The  apparition  of  the  god  Phthah  in  a  dream  is 
clearly  a  convenient  fiction,  by  means  of  which  he  might  at 
once  conceal  his  cowardice  and  excuse  the  forfeiture  of  his 
word. 

The  Egyptian  monuments  thus  confirm  three  leading 
features  in  the  character  of  Menephthah, — his  superstitious- 
ness,  his  want  of  courage,  and  his  weak,  shifty,  false  temper. 
They  do  not,  howevor,  furnish  much  indication  of  his  cruelty. 
This  is,  perhaps,  sufficiently  accounted  fur  by  their  scanti- 
ness. Menephthah  is  a  king  of  whom  it  has  been  said  * 
that  he  "belongs  to  the  number  of  those  monarchs  whose 
memory  has  been  with  difficulty  preserved  by  a  few  monu- 
ments of  inferior  value,  and  a  few  inscriptions  of  but  little 
importance."  We  have,  in  fact,  but  one  inscription  of  any 
considerable  length  belonging  to  his  reign. f  It  gives  mainly 
an  account  of  the  Libyan  war,  in  which  he  was  not  person- 
ally engaged.  A  tone  of  pride  and  arrogance  common  to 
the  autobiographical  memoirs  of  Egyptian  kings  pervades 
it,  but  it  contains  few  notices  of  any  severities  for  which  the 

*  Brugsch.  "  Histoire  d'Egypte,"  p.  175. 

t  This  inscription  will  be  found  translated  in  "  Records  of  the 
Past,"  vol.  iv.,pp.  39-48.  and  in  M.  Chabas'  "  Recherches  pour  servir 
»  1'histoire  de  1'Egypte,"  pp.  84-94. 


144  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

monarch  himself  can  be  regarded  as  responsible.  That  htf 
made  slaves  of  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  Libyan  war* 
merely  shows  that  he  acted  like  other  monarchs  of  the  tinm 
He  speaks,  however,  of  having  in  a  Cushite  war  "  slaughtered 
the  people,  and  set  fire  to  them,  and  netted,  as  men  net 
birds,  the  entire  country."  f  This  last  expression  reminds 
one  of  a  cruel  Persian  practice,  whereby  whole  populations 
were  exterminated,  or  reduced  to  slavery ;  $  the  preceding 
one,  if  it  is  to  be  taken  literally,  implies  a  still  more  extreme 
and  more  unusual  barbarity. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  general  series  of  events 
related  in  the  first  fourteen  chapters  of  Exodxis  should  obtain 
any  direct  mention  in  the  historical  records  of  Egypt.  As  M. 
Chabas  remarks, §  "  events  of  this  kind  were  not  entitled  to 
be  inscribed  on  the  public  monuments,  where  nothing  was 
ever  registered  except  successes  and  triumphs."  The  court 
historiographers  would  naturally  refrain  from  all  mention  of 
the  terrible  plagues  from  which  Egypt  suffered  during  a 
whole  year,  as  well  as  from  any  record  of  the  disaster  of  the 
Red  Sea ;  and  the  monarch  would  certainly  not  inscribe  any 
account  of  them  upon  his  edifices.  Still  there  are  points  of 
the  narrative  which  admit  of  comparison  with  the  records  of 
the  time,  and  in  which  an  agreement  or  disagreement  with 
those  records  would  almost  of  necessity  show  itself ;  and  these 
it  is  proposed  to  consider  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter. 
Such  are  (1)  the  employment  of  forced  labor  in  Egypt  at 
this  period  of  its  history,  and  the  method  of  its  employment ; 
(2)  the  inclusion,  or  non-inclusion,  of  the  Hebrews  among  the 
forced  laborers;  (8)  the  construction  at  the  period  of  "  store- 
cities,"  and  the  names  of  the  cities  ;  (4)  the  military  organi- 
zation of  the  time  ;  (5)  the  untimely  loss  of  a  son  by  the  king 
under  whom  the  Exodus  took  place  ;  and  (6)  the  existence 
or  non-existence  of  any  indication  in  the  records  of  such  ex- 
haustion and  weakness  as  might  be  expected  to  follow  the 
events  related  in  Exodus. 

The  use  of  forced  labor  by  the  Egyptian  monarchs  of  the 
time,  especially  by  Set!  I.  .and  Rameses  II.,  is  abundantly 
witnessed  to  by  the  monuments.  The  kings  speak  of  it  as 
a  matter  of  course;  the  poets  deplore  it;  the  artists  repre- 
sent it.  "  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Egyptians  to  subject 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  47,  1.  03. 

t  Ibid.,  1.  67.  }  Herod,  iii.  149  ;  vi.  31. 

§  "  Recherches,"  etc.,  p.  152. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  145 

prisoners  of  war  to  this  life  of  forced  labor.  A  tomb  of 
the  time  of  Thothmes  III.  has  furnished  pictures  which  rep- 
resent Asiatic  captives  making  bricks,  and  working  at  build- 
ings under  the  rod  of  task-masters — pictures  which  are  a 
figured  commentary  on  the  verses  of  Exodus  (ch.  i.  11-14) 
which  we  have  just  cited.  But  under  Rameses  II.  the  un- 
precedented development  of  architectural  works  rendered 
the  fatigues  to  which  such  wretches  were  exposed  far  more 
overwhelming."  *  Gangs  of  laborers  were  placed  under  the 
charge  of  an  overseer  armed  with  a  stick  which  he  applied 
freely  to  their  naked  backs  and  shoulders  on  the  slightest 
provocation.  A  certain  definite  amount  of  task-work  was 
required  every  day  of  each  laborer.  Some  worked  at  brick- 
making,  some  at  stone-cutting,  some  at  dragging  blocks 
from  the  quarries,  some  at  erecting  edifices.  Food  was  pro- 
vided by  the  Government,  and  appears  not  to  have  been 
insufficient ;  but  the  hard  work,  and  the  exposure  to  the 
burning  sun  of  Egypt,  were  exhausting  in  the  extreme,  and 
rendered  their  life  a  burden  to  those  condemned  to  pass  it 
in  this  sort  of  employ. 

Whether  the  monuments  indicate,  or  do  not  indicate,  the 
inclusion  of  the  Hebrews  among  the  forced  laborers  of  this 
period  depends  on  our  acceptance  or  non-acceptance  of  a 
suggested  identification.!  Are  we,  or  are  we  not,  to  regard 
the  Hebrews  as  the  same  people  with  the  Aperu  or  Apuriu  ? 
In  favor  of  the  identification,  there  is,  in  the  firs  tplace,  the 
close  resemblance  of  the  words.  M.  Chabas,  indeed,  over- 
states the  case  when  he  says$  that  the  Egyptian  Aperu  is 
"  the  exact  transcription  of  the  Hebrew  ."  It  is  not  so 
really,  since  the  exact  transcription  would  be  "  Aberu  "  ;  but 
it  is  a  very  near  approach  to  an  exact  transcription.  It  falls 
short  of  exactness  merely  by  the  substitution  of  a  p  for  a  6, 
the  two  letters  being  closely  cognate,  and  the  ear  of  the 
Egyptians  for  foreign  sounds  not  very  accurate.  In  the 
next  place,  it  is  found  that  Rameses  II.  employs  the  Aperu 
in  the  building  of  his  city  of  Rameses  (Pa-Ramesu),  which 
is  exactly  one  of  the  works  ascribed  to  the  Hebrews  in 
Exodus  (ch.  i.  11).  Further,  we  must  either  accept  the 

*  Lenormant,  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancieime,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  269, 
edition  of  1883. 

t  On  this  identification,  see  Chabas,  "  Recherches  pour  servir  k 
Phistoire  de  1'Egypte,"  pp.  142-150  ;  "  Melanges  Egyptologiques,"  2me 
Serie,  p.  108,  et  seq.  \  "  Recherches,"  p.  142. 


146  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

identity  of  the  Hebrews  with  the  Aperu,  or  we  must  suppose 
that  the  kings  of  this  period  had  in  their  service  at  this  time 
two  sets  of  forced  laborers  quite  unconnected,  yet  with  names 
almost  exactly  alike.  Against  the  identification,  almost  the 
sole  point  that  can  be  urged,  is  the  fact  that  Aperu  are  found 
still  to  be  employed  by  the  Egyptian  kings  after  the  Exodus 
is  a  thing  of  the  past,  as  by  Rameses  III.  and  Rameses  IV. 
But  this  objection  seems  to  be  sufficiently  met  by  M.  Chabas. 
"  It  is  quite  certain  that,  spread  as  the  text  of  Scripture  de- 
clares that  they  were  over  the  whole  of  Egypt,  the  Hebrews 
could  not  by  any  possibility  respond  universally  to  the  appeal 
of  Moses  ;  perhaps  some  of  them  did  not  even  wish  to  do  so. 
Such  was  doubtless  the  case  with  those  [Aperu]  whom  we 
find  enrolled  in  regiments  in  the  reigns  of  Rameses  III.  and 
Rameses  IV."  * 

The  construction  of  "  store-cities  "  at  the  required  period 
has  received  recent  illustration  of  the  most  remarkable  kind. 
The  explorers  employed  by  the  " Egypt  Exploration  Fund" 
have  uncovered  at  Tel-el-Maskoutah,  near  Tel-el-Kebir,  an 
ancient  city,  which  the  inscriptions  found  on  the  spot  show 
to  have  been  built,  in  part  at  any  rate,  by  Rameses  II.,  and 
which  is  of  so  peculiar  a  construction  as  to  suggest  at  once 
to  those  engaged  in  the  work  the  idea  that  it  was  built  for  a 
"  store-city."t  The  town  is  altogether  a  square,  enclosed  by 
a  brick  wall  twenty-two  feet  thick,  and  measuring  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  along  each  side.  The  area  contained 
within  the  wall  is  estimated  at  about  ten  acres.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  this  space  is  occupied  by  solidly  built  square  cham- 
bers, divided  one  from  the  other  by  brick  walls  from  eight  to 
ten  feet  thick,  which  are  unpierced  by  window  or  door,  or 
opening  of  any  kind.  About  ten  feet  from  the  bottom  the 
walls  show  a  row  of  recesses  for  beams,  in  some  of  which  de- 
cayed wood  still  remains,  indicating  that  the  buildings  were 
two-storied,  having  a  lower  room,  which  could  only  be  en- 
tered by  means  of  a  trap-door,  used  probably  as  a  store- 
house or  magazine,  and  an  upper  one,  in  which  the  keeper 
of  the  store  may  have  had  his  abode.  Thus  far  the  discovery 
is  simply  that  of  a  "store-city,"  built  partly  by  Rameses  II., 

*  "  Recherches,"  p.  103. 

t  See  an  article  in  the  British  Quarterly  Review  for  July,  1883,  pp. 
110-115  ;  and  compare  the  letters  on  the  same  subject  in  the  Academy 
for  February  24th,  March  3d  and  17th,  and  April  7th  of  the  same 
year. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  147 

but  it  further  appears,  from  several  short  inscriptions,  that 
the  name  of  the  city  was  Pa-Turn,  or  Pithom  ;  and  there  is 
no  reasonable  doubt  that  one  of  the  two  cities  built  by  the 
Israelites  has  been  laid  bare,  and  answers  completely  to  the 
description  given  of  it.  Of  the  twin  city,  Ramescs,  the  re- 
mains have  not  yet  been  identified.  We  know,  however, 
from  the  inscription,  that  it  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Tanis,  and  that  it  was  built  perhaps  in  part  by  Seti  I.,  but 
mainly  by  his  son  Ranieses  II. 

It  lends  additional  interest  to  the  discovery  of  Pithom 
that  the  city  is  found  to  be  built  almost  entirely  of  brick. 
It  was  in  brick-making  that  the  Israelites  are  said  in  the 
Book  of  Exodus  (ch.  i.  14  ;  v.  7-19)  to  have  been  principally 
employed.  They  are  also  said  to  have  been  occupied  to 
some  extent  "  in  mortar  "  (ch.  i.  14)  ;  and  the  bricks  of  the 
store-chambers  of  Pithom  are  "  laid  with  mortar  in  regular 
tiers."  *  They  made  their  bricks  "  with  straw  "  until  no 
straw  was  given  them,  when  they  were  reduced  to  straits 
(ch.  v.  7-19).  It  is  in  accordance  with  this  part  of  the 
narrative,  and  sheds  some  additional  light  upon  it  to  find 
that  the  bricks  of  the  Pithom  chambers,  while  generally  con- 
taining a  certain  amount  of  straw,  are  in  some  instances 
destitute  of  it.  The  king's  cruelty  forced  the  Israelites 
to  produce  in  some  cases  an  inferior  article. 

The  military  organization  of  the  Egyptians  at  the  time 
of  the  Exodus  is  represented  as  very  complete.  The  king 
is  able,  almost  at  a  moment's  warning,  to  take  the  field  with 
a  force  of  six  hundred  picked  chariots,  and  numerous  others 
of  a  more  ordinary  description,  together  with  a  considerable 
body  of  footmen.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  has  any  cav- 
alry, for  the  word  translated  "  horsemen  "  in  our  version 
probably  designates  the  riders  in  the  chariots.  Each  squad- 
ron of  thirty  chariots  is  apparently  under  the  command  of  a 
"  captain  "  (ch.  xiv.  7).  The  entire  force,  large  as  it  is,  is 
ready  to  take  the  field  in  a  few  days,  for  otherwise  the 
Israelites  would  have  got  beyond  the  Egyptian  border 
before  the  Pharaoh  could  have  overtaken  them.  It  acts 
promptly  and  bravely,  and  only  suffers  disaster  through  cir- 
cumstances of  an  abnormal  and  indeed  miraculous  character. 
Now  it  appears  by  the  Egyptian  monuments  that  the  mili- 
tary system  was  brought  to  its  highest  perfection  by  Seti  I. 

•  British  Quarterly  Review,  July  1883,  p.  110. 


148  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

and  Rameses  II.  It  is  certain  that,  in  their  time,  the  army 
was  most  carefully  organized,  divided  into  brigades,*  and 
maintained  in  a  state  of  constant  preparation.  The  chariot 
force  was  regarded  as  of  very  much  the  highest  importance, 
and  amounted,  according  to  the  lowest  computation,  to 
several  thousands.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  cavalry  was 
employed,  none  appearing  on  the  monuments,  and  the  word 
so  translated  by  many  writers  f  being  regarded  by  others 
as  the  proper  designation  of  the  troops  who  fought  in 
chariots.  $  Infantry,  however,  in  large  well-disciplined 
bodies,  always  attended  and  supported  the  chariot  force. 
Under  Menephthah  the  system  of  his  father  and  grandfather 
was  still  maintained,  though  no  longer  in  full  vigor.  He 
required  a  fortnight  to  collect  sufficient  troops  to  meet  the 
Libyan  invasion.§  He  had  then,  however,  to  meet  an  army 
of  trained  soldiers,  and  had  no  need  to  hasten,  since  he 
occupied  a  strong  position.  Under  the  circumstances  of  the 
Exodus,  it  was  necessary  to  be  more  prompt,  and  sufficient 
to  collect  a  much  smaller  army.  This  he  appears  to  have 
been  able  to  do  at  the  end  of  a  few  days. 

It  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  the  Egyptian  records 
would  present  any  evidence  on  the  subject  of  Menephthah's 
loss  of  a  son  by  an  untimely  death.  Curiously,  however,  it 
does  happen  that  a  monument,  at  present  in  the  Berlin 
Museum,  contains  a  proof  of  his  having  suff ered  such  a  loss.  || 
There  is  no  description  of  the  circumstances,  but  a  mere  in- 
dication of  the  bare  fact.  The  confirmation  thus  lent  to  the 
Scriptural  narrative  is  slight  ;  but  it  has  a  value  in  a  case 
where  the  entire  force  of  the  evidence  consists  in  its  being 
cumulative. 

Three  results  would  naturally  follow  on  the  occurrence  ot 
such  circumstances  as  those  recorded  in  Exodus.  Egypt 
would  be  for  a  time  weakened  in  a  military  point  of  view, 
and  her  glory,  as  a  conquering  power,  would  suffer  tempo- 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  08. 

t  As  generally  in  the  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  and  by  M.  Chabas  in 
his  "  Recherches  pour  servir,"  etc.,  pp.  86,  88,  89,  etc. 

J  M.  Lenormant  almost  always  replaces  the  "cavalry  "of  other 
translators  by  the  expression  " des  chars"  (Manuel  d'llistoire 
Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  255,  256.  etc.)  He  observes  in  one  place, 
"The  military  education  of  the  Egyptians  did  not  include  teaching 
men  to  ride,  since  they  fought  in  chariots." 

§  "  Records  of  the  Past."  vol.  iv.,  p.  43. 
||  Brugsch,  "  Histoire  d'Egypte,"  p.  176. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  149 

rary  eclipse.  The  royal  auhtority  would  be  shaken,  and 
encouragement  afforded  to  the  pretensions  of  any  rival 
claimants  of  the  throne.  The  loss  of  six  hundred  thousand 
laborers  would  bring  to  an  end  the  period  of  the  construction 
of  great  works,  or,  at  the  least,  greatly  check  their  rapid 
multiplication.  Now  this  is  exactly  what  all  historians  of 
Egypt  agree  to  have  been  the  general  condition  of  things  in 
Egypt  in  the  later  years  of  Menephthah  and  the  period  im- 
mediately following.  Military  expeditions  cease  until  the 
time  of  Rameses  III.,  a  space  of  nearly  forty  years.  The 
later  years  of  Menephthah  are  disturbed  by  the  rise  of  a 
pretender,  Ammon-mes,  who  disputes  the  throne  with  his 
eon,  and  according  to  Manetho,*  occupies  it  for  five  years. 
Seti  II.,  or  Seti-Menephthah,  has  then  a  short  reign ;  but 
another  claimant  is  brought  forward  by  a  high  official,  and 
established  in  his  place.  Soon  afterwards  complete  anarchy 
sets  in,  and  continues  for  several  years,  f  till  a  certain  Set- 
nekht  is  made  king  by  the  priests,  and  tranquility  once 
more  restored.  The  construction  of  monuments  during  this 
period  almost  entirely  ceases  ;  and  when  Rameses  III.  shows 
the  desire  to  emulate  the  architectural  glories  of  former 
kings,  he  is  compelled  to  work  on  a  much  smaller  scale,  and 
to  content  himself  with  the  erection  of  a  comparatively  few 

edifices. 

/ 

*  Ap.  Syncell.,  "  Chronographia,"  p.  72.  C. 

t  See  the  "  Great  Harris  Papyrus,"  translated  by  Dr.  Eisenlohr  in 
the  "Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  vol  L.  P 
359,  et  *eq. 


150  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  EXODUS  AND  NUMBERS. 

"  The  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from  Rameses  to  Succoth."— 
EXOD.  xii.  37. 

*'  It  came  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh  had  let  the  people  go,  that  God 
led  them  not  [through]  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  although 
that  was  near  .  .  .  But  God  led  the  people  about  [through]  the  way 
of  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea  .  .  .  And  they  tooK  their  journey 
from  Succoth,  and  encamped  in  Etham,  in  the  edga  of  the  wilder- 
ness."— EXOD.  xiii  17-20. 

"  Speak  unto  the  children  of  ftrael,  that  they  turn  and  encamp 
before  Pi-hahiroth,  between  Migdol  and  the  sea,  over  against  Baal- 
Zephon;  before  it  shall  ye  encamp  by  the  sea." — EXOD.  xiv.  2. 

"  These  are  the  journeys  of  Hie  children  of  Israel,  .which  went  f  orlh 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  with  their  armies  under  the  hand  of  Moses 
and  Aaron.  And  Moses  wrote  their  goings  out  according  to  their 
journeys  by  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  :  and  these  are  their  jour- 
neys according  to  their  goings  out.  And  they  departed  from  Rameses 
in  the  first  month,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  first  month  .  .  .  And 
the  children  of  Israel  removed  from  Rameses,  and  pitched  in  Succoth. 
And  they  departed  from  Succoth,  and  pitched  in  Etham,  which  is  in 
the  edge  of  the  wilderness.  And  they  removed  from  Etham,  and 
turned  again  unto  Pi-hahiroth,  which  is  before  Baal-Zephon :  and  they 
pitched  before  Migdol.  And  they  departed  from  before  Pi-hahiroth, 
and  passed  through  the  midst  of  the  sea  into  the  wilderness,  and  went 
three  days'  journey  in  the  'wilderness  of  Etham,  •  and  pitched  in 
Marah.  And  they  removed  from  Mai  ah,  and  came  unto  Elim  .  .  . 
And  they  removed  from  Elim,  and  encamped  by  the  Red  Sea." — 
NUMB,  xxxiii.  1-10. 


ALTHOUGH  the  geographical  problems  connected  with  the 
Exodus  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt  cannot  be  said  to  be  as 
yet  completely  solved,  yet  the  course  of  modern  research 
has  shed  considerable  light  upon  the  route  followed  by  tin; 
flying  people,  and  the  position  of  their  various  resting-place* 
The  results  arrived  at  may  be  regarded  as  tolerably  assured, 
since  they  have  not  been  reached  without  very  searching 
criticism  and  the  suggestion  of  many  rival  hypotheses.  The 
boldest  of  these,  started  in  the  year  1874  by  one  of  the  first 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS  AND  NUMBERS.  151 

of  modern  Egyptologists,  Dr.  Brugsch,*  for  a  time  shook  to 
its  foundation  the  fabric  of  earlier  belief.  The  authority  of 
its  propounder  was  great,  his  acquaintance  with  the  ancient 
geography  of  Egypt  unrivaled,  and  his  argument  conducted 
with  extreme  skill  and  ingenuity ;  it  was  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  therefore,  that  his  views  obtained  for  a  time  very  general 
credence.  But  researches  conducted  subsequently  to  the 
enunciation  of  his  views,  partly  with  the  object  of  testing 
them,  partly  without  any  such  object,  have  shown  his  theory 
to  be  untenable!  5  and  opinion  has  recently  reverted  to  the 
old  channel,  having  gained  by  the  discussion  some  additional 
precision  and  detiniteness.  We  propose  in  the  present 
chapter  to  consider  the  Exodus  geographically,  and  to  trace, 
as  distinctly  as  possible,  the  "  journeys  "  of  the  Israelites 
from  their  start  on  the  day  following  the  destruction  of  the 
first-born  to  their  entrance  on  the  "  wilderness  of  Etham  " 
after  their  passage  of  the  Red  Sea. 

The  point  of  departure  is  clearly  stated  both  in  Exodus 
(ch.  xii,  37),  and  in  Xumbers  (ch.  xxxiii.  3.  5)  to  have  been 
"  Rameses."  What  does  this  mean?  We  hear  in  Scripture 
both  of  a  "  land  of  Rameses  "  (Gen.  xlvii.  11),  and  of  a  city 
"  Raamses,"  or  Rameses.  It  is  not  disputed  that  these  two 
words  are  the  same  ;  nor  does  it  seem  to  be  seriously  doubt- 
ed that  the  land  received  its  name  from  the  town.  From 
which,  then,  are  we  to  understand  that  the  Israelites  made 
their  start  ?  It  has  been  argued  strongly  that  "  the  land  " 
is  intended ;  $  and  with  this  contention  we  are  so  far  agreed, 
that  we  should  not  suppose  any  general  gathering  of  the 
people  to  the  city  of  Rameses,  but  a  movement  from  all 
parts  of  the  land  of  Rameses  or  Goshen  to  the  general 
muster  at  Succoth.  Succoth  seems  to  us  to  have  been  the 
first  rendezvous.  But  a  portion  of  the  Israelites,  and  that 
the  leading  and  guiding  portion,  started  probably  from 
the  town.  Menephthah  resided  at  Pa-Ramesu,  a  suburb  of 
Tanis.  Moses  and  Aaron  held  communication  with  him 

*  The  views  of  Dr.  Brugsch  were  first  propounded  at  the  Interna- 
tional Congress  of  Orientalists,  held  in  1S74.  They  were  afterwards 
published  in  the  English  translation  of  his  "  History  of  Egypt,"  Lon- 
don, 18TU. 

t  See  Mr.  Greville  Chester's  papers  in  the  "  Quarterly  Statements" 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  July,  1880,  and  April,  1881;  and 
Mr.  Stanley  Poole's  paper  in  the  British  Quarterly  Bedew  for  July, 
1883. 

t  See  Dr.  Trumbull's  "  Kadesh-Barnea  "  (New  York,  1884),  p.  382. 


152  EGYPT  AND  SAB YL ON. 

during  the  night,  after  the  first-born  were  slain.  They  must, 
therefore,  have  been  in  the  town  or  in  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. They  received  permission  to  depart  (Exodus  xii. 
31),  and,  as  soon  as  morning  broke,  they  set  off  with  the 
other  Israelites  of  the  neighborhood.  It  is  this  start  from 
the  town  of  Rameses  which  the  historian  has  in  his  eye  ;  he 
needs  a  definite  terminus  a  quo  from  which  to  begin  his 
account  of  the  journeying  (Numb,  xxxiii.  5),  and  he  finds  it 
in  this  city,  the  seat  of  the  court  at  the  time.  Rameses 
was  in  lat.  31°,  long.  32°,  nearly,  towards  the  north-eastern 
corner  of  Egypt,  about  thirty  miles  almost  due  west  of  Pelu- 
sium,  from  which,  however,  it  was  separated  by  a  great 
marshy  tract,  the  modern  Lake  Menzaleh,  Avhich  in  long.  32° 
20'  penetrates  deep  into  the  country,  and  renders  a  march  to 
the  south-east  necessary  in  order  to  reach  the  eastern  frontier 
of  Egypt.  The  rendezvous  must,  consequently,  have  been 
appointed  for  some  place  in  this  direction  ;  and  it  is  in  this 
direction  that  we  must  seek  it. 

This  place  is  termed  both  in  Exodus  (ch.  xii.  87  ;  xiii.  20) 
and  in  Numbers  (ch.  xxxiii.  5.  6)  "  Succoth  " — i.e.,  "  Tents  " 
or  "  Booths  " — an  equivalent  of  the  Greek  2*7wr£,  which  is 
often  used  as  a  geographical  designation.  It  has  been  pro- 
posed to  identify  Succoth  with  an  Egyptian  district  called 
"  Thuku  "  or  "  Thukut,"  *  and  more  recently  with  the  newly- 
discovered  town  of  Pithom  t  (Tel-el-Maskouteh).  There  is 
no  evidence,  however,  that  Pithom  was  ever  called  Succoth, 
nor  would  Tel-el-Maskouteh  have  been  a  convenient  rendez- 
vous for  two  millions  of  persons,  with  their  flocks  and  herds. 
The  Wady  Toumilat  offers  but  a  thin  thread  of  verdure 
along  the  line  of  the  fresh-water  canal,  and  though  a  con- 
venient route  for  those  who  came  from  the  more  southern 
part  of  the  "  land  of  Goshen,"  would  have  been  very  much 
out  of  the  way  for  such  as  started  from  the  more  northern 
portion,  as  from  Taiiis,  or  from  the  town  of  Goshen  (Qosem) 
itself.  But  the  district  of  Thukut,  if  it  lay  where  Dr.  T  rum- 
bull  places  it,*  north  and  north-west  of  Lake  Timseh,  would 
be  a  very  convenient  place  for  a  general  muster,  affording  a 
wide  space  and  abundant  pasture  in  the  spring-time,  and 
easily  reached  both  from  south-west  and  north-west — in  the 

*  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  translated  by  Philip  Smith,  2d 
edit.,  p.  370-4. 

t  Stanley  Poole  in  the  firitish  Quarterly  Review,  July,  1883,  p.  113. 
J  See  "  Kadesh-Barnea,"  pp.  302-5. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS  AND  NUMBERS.  153 

one  case  by  the  "VVady  Toumilat,  in  the  other  by  way  of  Tel- 
Dafneh  and  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Ballah.  This  posi- 
tion for  Thukut  seems  indeed  to  be  definitely  fixed  by  the 
discovery  of  the  ruins  of  Pithom,  the  capital  of  Thukut,  at 
Tel-el-Maskouteh,  combined  with  the  statement  in  an  Egyp- 
tian text,*  that  Thukut  was  a  region  just  within  the  Egyptian 
frontier,  suited  for  grazing,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  some  lakes. 
Dr.  Brugsch's  location  of  it  on  the  southern  shores  of  Lake 
Menzaleh  became  impossible  from  the  moment  that  Tel-el- 
Maskouteh  was  proved  to  mark  the  site  of  Pithom. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  objected  to  the  location  of  Succoth 
on  the  north  and  west  of  Lake  Timseh,  that  the  distance  is 
thirty-five  miles  from  Rameses  (Tanis),  and  therefore  could 
not  have  been  traversed  in  a  day.  But  nothing  is  said  in 
Exodus,  or  elsewhere  in  Scripture,  with  respect  to  the  length 
of  time  occupied  by  the  journey  between  any  two  stations 
mentioned,  except  in  one  instance,  when  the  time  occupied 
was  "three  days"  (Exod.  xv.  12;  Numb,  xxxiii.  8).  It 
took  a  month  for  the  multitude  to  reach  the  wilderness  of 
Sin  from  their  starting-point  (Exod.  xii.  18  ;  xvi.  1)  ;  dur- 
ing this  time  we  have  only  six  stations  mentioned ;  it  took 
above  a  fortnight  for  them  to  move  from  the  wilderness 
of  Sin  to  the  plain  before  Sinai  (ch.  xvi.  1  ;  xix.  1)  ;  along 
this  route  are  mentioned  only  three  stations  (Numb,  xxxiii. 
12-15).  Thus  there  is  every  reason  for  supposing  that  the 
journey  from  station  to  station  occupied,  in  most  cases, 
several  days. 

The  children  of  Israel  "  took  their  journey  from  Succoth 
and  encamped  in  Etham,"  or  "  at  Etham,  in  the  edge  of  the 
wilderness"  (Exod.  xiii.  20).  No  name  resembling  Etham 
is  to  be  found  in  the  geographical  nomenclature  of  Egypt, 
either  native  or  classical.  Hence  it  is  suspected  that  the 
word  is  rather  a  common  appellation  than  a  proper  nnme. 
"  Khetam  "  in  Egyptian  meant  "  fortress  "  ;  and  various 
khetamu  are  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions — one  near  Pelu- 
sium,  called  the  "  khetam  of  Zor  "  ;  another  near  Tanis  ;  a 
third,  called  the  "  khetam  of  King  Menephthah,"  within 
the  region  of  Thukot.t  The  eastern  frontier  was,  in  fact, 
guarded  by  a  scries  of  such  fortresses,  perhaps  connected 

*  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  133. 
t  Trumbull,    "  Kadesh-Barnea,"  p.   320  ;  Brugsch,    "  History  of 
Egypt,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  380. 


1 54  "EGYPT  AND  BAB TL ON. 

together  by  a  wall  or  rampart ;  and  especially  the  routes 
out  of  Egypt  were  thus  guarded  and  watched.  It  was  prob- 
ably to  one  of  these  "  khetaras " — that  which  guarded  the 
way  out  of  Egypt,  known  to  the  Hebrews  as  the  "  way  of 
Shur  "  (Gen.  xvi-7) — that  the  march  of  the  Israelites  was 
directed  from  Succoth.  The  khetam  lay  "  in  the  edge  of 
the  wilderness,"  and  may  perhaps  be  identified  with  that  of 
King  Menephthah.  It  was  probably  not  far  from  the  Bir 
Makdal  of  the  maps,  situated  about  ten  miles  east  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  east  by  north  of  Ismailia. 

The  multitude  must  have  supposed  that  they  were  now 
about  to  enter  the  wilderness.  They  were  "  in  its  edge." 
Their  leaders  had  doubtless  brought  with  them  the  king's 
permission  to  pass  the  frontier  fortress.  The  expectation 
must  have  been  that  on  the  morrow  they  would  quit  Egypt 
forever.  But  here  God  interposed.  Had  the  Israelites 
passed  out  of  Egypt  at  this  point,  the  march  would  natu- 
rally have  been  across  the  desert  some  way  south  of  Lake 
Serbonis  to  the  Wady  El  Arish,  and  thence  along  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean  to  Gaza  and  the  low  tract  of  the  Shef- 
eleh.  But  the  nation  was  not  yet  in  a  fit  condition  to  meet 
and  contend  with  the  warlike  people  of  that  rich  and  val- 
uable region — the  Philistines.  God  accordingly,  who  guided 
the  march  by  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  and  of  fire  (ch.  xiii. 
21,  22),  "led  them  not  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines, 
although  that  was  near  ;  for  God  said,  Lest  the  people 
repent  when  they  see  war,  and  return  to  Egypt :  but  God 
led  the  people  about,  the  way  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Red 
Sea"  (ib.  17,  18).  Moreover,  a  direction  was  given  through 
Moses  to  the  people,  "  that  they  turn  and  encamp  before 
Pihahiroth,  between  Migdol  and  the  sea,  over  against  Baal- 
Zephon"  (ch.  xiv.  2).  it  is  clear  that  at  this  point  the 
direction  of  the  march  was  changed ;  and  so  far  all  are 
agreed.  But  was  the  "  turn  "  towards  the  left  or  towards 
the  right?  Was  the  "sea  "by  which  they  were  command- 
ed to  encamp  the  Mediterranean  or  the  Red  Sea? 

It  is  the  main  point  of  Dr.  Brugsch's  theory  that  he 
holds  "the  sea"  to  nave  been  the  Mediterranean.  He  pro- 
fesses to  find  in  this  direction  a  Migdol,  a  Pihahiroth,  and  a 
Baal-Zephon.  The  Migdol  is  twenty  miles  from  the  Pi- 
hahiroth, and  the  Pi-hnhiroth  twenty-five  from  the  Baal- 
Zephon,  which  is  thus  forty-five  from  the  Migdol,  for  the 
three  are  nearly  in  a  straight  line.  The  Pi-hahiroth  and  the 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS  AND  NUMBERS.  155 

Baal-Zephon  are  not  visible  the  one  from  the  other.*  Still, 
though  these  particulars  of  distance  and  position  ill  accord 
with  the  expressions  used  in  Exod.  xiv.  2  and  Numb,  xxxiii. 
7,  which  imply  proximity  and  the  being  within  view,  it 
would  have  been  a  most  curious  circumstance  had  there  been 
on  this  side  of  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  and  also  on  the  opposite 
one,  three  places  similarly  named  within  a  moderate  distance 
of  each  other.  But  on  examination  it  appears  that  only  one 
of  the  three  names  is  attached  to  any  locality  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Isthmus  otherwise  than  by  conjecture.  Dr. 
Brugsch  does  not  profess  to  have  found  in  the  remains  of 
ancient  Egypt  any  place  called  Pi-hahiroth  or  any  called 
Baal-Zephon.  He  finds  in  Egyptian  a  word  khirot,  signify- 
ing "  gulfs,"  and  he  finds  in  Diodorus  a  mention  that  there 
were  pdpadpa,  "  pits,"  at  the  western  end  of  Lake  Serboriis. 
Out  of  these  two  facts  he  constructs  an  Egyptian  Pi-khirot,f 
which  he  thinks  may  have  been  the  original  of  the  Pi-hahi- 
roth of  the  Hebrews.  Baal-Zephon  he  finds  only  mentioned 
in  Egyptian  documents  as  a  God, — he  conjectures  his  iden- 
tity with  Zeus  Kasios, — and  upon  this  pure  conjecture 
locates  his  temple  where  one  stood,  erected  to  Zeus  Kasios, 
in  post- Alexandrine  times.  If  we  put  aside  these  two  mere 
conjectures,  there  remains  only  a  Migdol,  which  has  a  proved 
existence  in  these  parts,  though  its  exact  emplacement  is  un- 
certain. 

Migdol,  however,  is  a  generic  term,  meaning  "  a  watch- 
tower."  There  are  likely  to  have  been  many  "  Migdols"  on 
the  eastern  frontier  of  Egypt,  and  it  is  maintained  J  that 
there  are  traces  of  at  least  three.  One  of  these,  called  by 
the  Greeks  Magdolos,  was  certainly  towards  the  north,  not 
far  from  Pelusium ;  another,  central,  has  left  its  name  to 
Bir  Makdal ;  a  third,  towards  the  south,  is  represented  by 
the  existing  Muktala.  This  last  may  well  be  the  Migdol  of 
Exodus. 

Dr.  Brugsch's  theory  that  Lake  Serbonis  is  the  true 
"  Yam  Suph^"  or  "  Sea  of  Weeds,"  wrongly  understood  by  the 
Septuagint  translators  as  "the  Red  Sea,"  has  been  com- 

*  Mr.  Greville  Chester  in  the  "Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Pales- 
tine Exploration  Fund,"  July,  1880,  p.  154.  note. 

t  •'  History  of  Egypt,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  393.  The  real  Egyptian  original 
of  Pi-hahiroth  seems  to  have  been  "  Pi-keheret,"  which  is  mentioned 
on  a  tablet  of  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  found  at  Tel-el- 
Maskouteh. 

J  Trumbull,  "  Kadesh-Barnea,"  pp.  374-& 


156  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

pletely  disposed  of  by  Mr.  Greville  Chester,  who  shows,  first, 
that  Lake  Serbonis  is  almost  wholly  devoid  of  vegetation, 
either  marine  or  lacustrine ;  *  secondly,  that  the  spit  of  land 
between  it  and  the  Mediterranean  is  not  continuous,  but  in- 
terrupted at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  lake  by  a  deep  sea- 
channel  ;  f  thirdly,  that  there  is  no  isthmus  opposite  El 
Gelse  dividing  the  lake  into  nearly  equal  portions,  $  as  Dr. 
Brugsch  supposed ;  and,  fourthly,  that  the  spit  of  land  is 
above  fifty  miles  long,  and  takes  a  lightly-equiped  traveler 
three  days  to  tra verse, §  instead  of  being  passable  in  the  course 
of  a  night.  It  may  be  added  that,  as  the  term  "  Yam  Suph" 
is  allowed  by  all,  including  Dr.  Brugsch,  to  designate  the 
Red  Sea  in  Exod.  xiii.  17  and  Numb,  xxxiii.  10,  11,  it  is  in- 
conceivable that  the  same  writer  should  in  the  same  narra- 
tive use  it  also  of  another  far-distant  sheet  of  water  (Exod. 
xv.  4,  22). 

The  propriety  of  the  name  "  Yam  Suph,"  as  applied  to 
the  Red  Sea,  has  been  well  illustrated  by  Dr.  Trumbull,|| 
"  Suph  "  in  Hebrew  means  at  once  "  seaweed  "  (Jonah  ii.  5), 
and  "rushes"  or  "sedge."  (Exod.  ii.  3,  etc.).  The  Red 
Sea  is  famous  for  the  number  and  variety  of  its  marine 
growths.  "  Weeds  and  corals  are  to  be  seen  in  such  profu- 
sion and  beauty  at  many  places  along  the  shores  of  Red  Sea, 
and  again  below  its  surface,  as  disclosed  at  low  water,  as 
almost  to  have  the  appearance  of  groves  and  gardens."  IT 
Again,  "  the  jtincus  acutus  arundo  CEyyptiaca,  or  arundo 
Isaica,  grows  commonly  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  so 
that  at  this  day  a  bay  of  the  same  is  called  Ghubbet-el-b-fis^ 
or  '  Reed  Bay.' "  **  The  observing  naturalist,  Klunzinger, 
says  that,  "  Where  the  soil  of  the  desert  along  that  coast 
is  kept  moist  by  lagoons  of  sea  water,  the  eye  is  gladdened 
by  spreading  meadows  of  green  verdure.  The  coast  flora  of 
the  desert,  which  requires  the  saline  vapor  of  the  sea,  is 
peculiar.  A  celebrated  plant  is  the  shora  (Avicennia  offici- 
nalis),  which  forms  large  dense  groves  in  the  sea,  these  being 
laid  bare  only  at  very  low  ebb.  Ships  are  laden  with  its 
wood,  which  is  used  as  fuel,  and  many  camels  live  altogether 

*  "  Quarterly  Statement  "  of  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  for  July, 
1880,  p.  155. 

t  Tbid.,  p.  157.  t  Ibid.,  p.  154. 

§  Ibid.,  pp.  152-157.  II  "  Kadesh-Barnea,"  pp.  353-356. 

I  Laborde,  "  Voyage  de  1'Arabie  Pe'tre'e,"  p.  5. 

**  Stickel,  "  Der  Israelite!!  Auszug  aus  -fligypten  "  in  "Studien  und 
Kritiken  "  for  1850,  p.  881. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS  AND  NUMBERS.  157 

on  its  laurel-like  leaves."  He  divides,  indeed,  the  shore 
line  of  the  Red  Sea  into  the  "  outer  shore  zone "  or  the 
reef  line,  and  the  "inner  shore  or  sea^grass  zone."  Even 
in  the  outer  shore  zone  there  "  flourish  also  in  many  in- 
lets of  the  sea  thickets  of  the  laurel-like  shora  shrub,"  as 
above  described ;  and  there  are  "  sea-grass  pools."  In  the 
inner  shore  zone,  "  among  the  rocks,  which  are  either  bare 
or  covered  with  a  blackish  and  red  mucilaginous  sea-weed," 
there  "  grow  green  phanerogamous  grasses  of  the  family  of 
the  Naiadeae."* 

But  if  the  sea  intended  in  the  directions  given  to  Moses 
(Exod.  xiv.  2)  was  the  Red  Sea,  Migdol,  Pihahiroth,  and 
Baal-Zephon  must  be  sought  towards  the  south ;  and  the 
"  turn  "  in  the  journey  (ibid,  and  Numb,  xxxiii.  7),  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  must  have  been  a  turn  to  the  right.  It  was 
to  some  extent  a  "  turning  back"  as  the  Hebrew  word  used 
implies,  a  "  return  "  into  Egypt  when  the  frontier  had  been 
reached,  and  might  have  been  crossed.  It  looked  like  hesi- 
tation and  doubt,  like  the  commencement  of  an  aimless, 
purposeless  wandering.  Hence  the  Pharaoh  took  heart,  and 
made  preparations  for  a  pursuit  at  the  head  of  an  army  (ch. 
xiv.  3,  59). 

If  the  "  bitter  lakes"  were  (as  supposed  by  manyf)  con- 
nected at  the  time  with  the  northern  end  of  the  Red  Sea,  as 
a  marshy  inlet,  overflowed  at  high  water,  and  Pi-hahiroth 
were  near  Muktala,  the  Israelites,  to  reach  it,  must  have 
skirted  the  northern  extremity  of  the  lakes,  and  have  pro- 
ceeded southward  along  their  western  shores.  A  march  of 
three  days  would  bring  them  into  the  plain  north-west  of 
Suez,  at  the  western  edge  of  which  the  station  Muktala 
(Migdol)  is  found.  The  Israelites  "  encamped  between 
Migdol  and  the  sea,"  for  which  there  would  be  abundant 
room,  as  the  distance  is  above  ten  miles.  They  were  "  be- 
side Pi-hahiroth  and  before  Baal-Zephon "  (ch.  xiv.  9). 
These  conditions  would  be  sufficiently  answered  if  Pi-hahi- 
roth were  at  Ajrud,  which  is  thought  to  retain  a  trace  of  the 
name,t  and  Baal-Zephon  were  on  the  north-eastern  flank  of 

*  Quoted  from  Dr.  Trumbull's  "  Kadesh-Barnoa,"  pp.  355-6. 

t  As  Kurtz,  Sliarpe.  Stanley  Poole.  Reginald  Stuart  Poole,  Canon 
Cook,  Lieutenant  Conder,  Burton,  Villiers  Stuart,  Gratz,  and  others. 

*So  Ebers  ("Gosen  zum  Sinai."  p.  520),  Kurtz  ("Hist,  of  Old 
Covenant,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  323),  Keil  and Delitzsch  ("Bible Comment. "on 
Exod.  xiv.  2),  etc. 


158  EGYPT  AND  BABYL ON. 

Jebel  Atakah.  Baal-Zephon  is  not  necessarily  a  Phoenician 
name,  for  the  Egyptians  had  adopted  "Baal "  as  a  god  long 
before  the  time  of  Menephthah,  and  Zephon  (Zapouna  or 
Typhon)  was  altogether  Egyptian.  There  is  no  proof  be- 
yond the  notices  in  Exodus  that  he  had  a  temple,  or  a  town 
named  after  him,  in  this  quarter ;  but  neither  is  there  any 
proof  of  his  having  had  one  in  any  part  of  Egypt.  It  has 
been  argued  that  the  position  on  Jebel  Ataka  would  be  one 
exactly  adapted  to  such  a  god  as  Baal-Zephon ;  f  but  we 
scarcely  know  enough  of  the  Egyptian  religion  to  be  sure  of 
this.  We  can  only  say  that  here,  on  the  western  coast  of 
the  Gulf  of  Suez,  would  be  ample  room  for  the  encampment 
of  the  entire  Israelitish  host ;  that  in  this  position  it  might 
well  seem  that  "  the  wilderness  had  shut  them  in  "  (ch.  xiv. 
3) ;  and  that  the  host  would  be  "  before  a  Migdol "  (Numb, 
xxxiii.  7),  and  perhaps  "  beside  a  Pi-hahiroth  "  (Exod.  xiv. 
9).  The  sea  in  front  was  but  two  or  three  miles  across,  and 
might  easily  have  been  passed  in  a  night ;  the  bottom  was 
such  as  would  naturally  clog  the  Egyptian  chariot  wheels 
(ver.  25),  and  the  further  shore  was  destitute  of  springs,  a 
true  "  wilderness "  (ch.  xv.  22),  where  the  Israelites  may 
well  have  gone  "  three  days  without  water." 

t  Trumbull,  "  Kadesh-Barnea,"  p.  421. 


NOTICES  JJV  EXODUS.  159 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

FURTHER   NOTICES    OP    EGYPT   IN   EXODUS. 

IN  considering  the  Biblical  notices  of  Egypt  contained  in 
the  Book  of  Exodus,  we  have  hitherto  confined  ourselves 
almost  entirely  to  the  main  narrative,  and  indeed  to  such 
points  of  it  as  are  capable  of  illustration  from  historical  docu- 
ments, monumental,  or  literary.  But  the  full  force  of  the 
illustration  which  profane  sources  are  capable  of  lending  to 
the  scriptural  accounts  cannot  be  rightly  estimated,  unless 
we  add  to  this  some  consideration  of  those  various  minor 
matters,  incidentally  touched  upon,  which  constitutes  the 
entourage  of  the  main  narrative,  and  render  it  altogether  so 
graphic  and  life-like.  These  touches  must  be  either  the 
natural  utterances  of  one  familiar  with  the  country  at  the 
time,  as  Moses,  the  traditional  Author  of  Exodus  would  have 
been,  or  the  artful  imitation  of  such  utterances  by  a  later 
writer,  unfamiliar  with  the  time,  and  probably  with  the 
scene,  drawing  upon  his  imagination  or  his  stock  of  antiqua- 
rian knowledge.  In  the  former  case,  a  general  agreement 
between  the  Biblical  portraiture  and  the  facts  as  otherwise 
known  to  us  might  be  confidently  looked  for  ;  in  the  latter, 
there  would  be  sure  to  appear,  on  examination,  repeated  con- 
tradictions and  discrepancies. 

It  will  be  the  object  of  the  present  chapter  to  show  that 
there  is  a  close  accord  between  the  Scriptural  notices  and 
the  facts  as  otherwise  known  to  us  in  respect  of  almost  all 
the  minor  matters  of  which  we  have  spoken.  These  may  be 
summed  up  under  the  following  principal  heads : — (a)  the 
climate  and  productions  of  Egypt,  (b)  the  dress  and  domestic 
habits  of  the  people,  (c)  the  ordinary  food  of  the  laboring 
classes,  (cl)  customs  connected  with  fanning  and  cattle-keep- 
ing, and  (#)  miscellaneous  customs. 

The  climate  of  Egypt  is  touched  upon  mainly  in  con- 
nection with  the  seventh  plague,  in  ch.  ix.  We  find  there 


160  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

heavy  rain  (ver.  33),  hail,  thunder  and  lightning  mentioned 
as  occurring  in  early  spring,  and  doing  great  damage  to  the 
crops.  The  particular  visitation  is  spoken  of  as  miraculous 
in  coming  at  the  command  of  Moses  (ver.  23),  and  as  ex- 
traordinary in  its  intensity  (ver.  24),  but  not  as  a  thing 
previously  unknown.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  implied  that 
similar  visitations  of  less  severity  were  not  unusual.  Objec- 
tion has  been  taken  to  the  narrative  on  this  account ;  and  it 
has  been  represented  as  indicative  of  a  great  want  of  acquain- 
tance with  the  climatic  circumstances  of  the  country,  since 
rain  and  hail  are,  it  has  been  said,  unknown  in  Egypt.  But 
the  only  ground  for  such  a  statement  is  the  authority  of  the 
classical  writers.  Herodotus  regarded  rain  in  Upper  Egypt 
as  a  prodigy,  *  and  Mela  goes  so  far  as  to  call  Egypt  gener- 
ally "  a  land  devoid  of  showers."  f  But  the  observation  of 
modern  travelers  -runs  counter  to  such  views,  $  and  sup- 
ports the  credit  of  the  author  of  Exodus.  In  Upper  Egypt, 
indeed,  "  very  heavy  rain  is  unusual,  and  happens  only  about 
once  in  ten  years.  Four  or  five  showers  fall  there  every  year, 
after  long  intervals."  §  But  in  Lower  Egypt,  rain  is  as  com- 
mon in  winter  as  it  is  in  the  south  of  Europe.  Storms  of 
great  severity  occur  occasionally,  more  especially  in  February 
and  March,  when  snow,  hail,  thunder  and  lightning  are  not 
uncommon.  The  Rev.  T.  H.  Tooke  "  describes  a  storm  of 
extreme  severity,  which  lasted  twenty-four  hours,  in  the 
middle  of  February,"  ||  as  high  up  the  valley  as  Bern-Hassan. 
Other  travelers,  as  Seetzen  and  Willmann,  speak  of  storms 
of  thunder  and  hail  in  March.  "  The  ravines  in  the  valley 
of  the  kings'  tomb  near  Thebes,  and  the  precautions  taken 
in  the  oldest  temples  at  Thebes  to  guard  the  roofs  against 
rain  by  lions'  mouths,  or  gutters,  for  letting  off  the  water 
from  them,"  IT  prove  sufficiently  that  there  was  no  great 
difference  between  ancient  and  modern  times  in  respect  of 
the  rainfall  of  the  Nile  valley. 

Among  the  cultivated  products  of  Egypt  mentioned  in 
Exodus,  the  principal  are,  wheat,  barley,  flax,  and  rye,  or  spelt 

»  Herod.  Hi.  10. 

t  Pomp.  Mel.,  "  De  Situ  Orbis,"  I.  9;  "  jEgyptus  terraexpers  im- 
briuin." 

I  See  the  passages  collected  by  Hengstenberg,  "  Egypt  and  the 
Books  of  Moses,"  pp.  117,  118. 

§  Williamson  in  llawlinson's  "  Herodotus, "  vol.  ii.,  p.  409,  note  4. 

||  "  Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.,  p.  285. 

1  Wilkinson,  1.  s.  c.  Compare  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  420. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  163 

(ix.  32),  to  which  may  be  added  from  the  Book  of  Numbers 
(xi.  5)  cucumbers,  melons,  onions,  garlick,  and  leeks.  Grains 
of  wheat  have  been  found  abundantly  in  the  coffins  contain- 
ing mummies,  and  "  mummy  wheat  "  is  said  to  have  been 
raised  from  such  grains  in  various  parts  of  Europe.  The 
monuments,  moreover,  represented  to  us  in  numerous  in- 
stances the  growth  of  wheat,  the  mode  in  which  it  was  cut, 
bound  into  sheaves,  or  gathered  into  baskets,  and  threshed  by 
the  tread  of  cattle  on  a  threshing-floor.  *  Barley  does  not 
appear  to  be  represented,  f  but  its  growth  is  manifest.  It  is 
mentioned  as  the  ordinary  food  of  the  Egyptian  horses,  | 
and  as  one  of  the  chief  materials  used  in  the  making  of  bread. § 
It  was  also  largely  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  beer.  || 
Flax  was  likewise  cultivated  on  an  extensive  scale  to  furnish 
the  linen  garments  necessarily  worn  by  the  priests,  and  pre- 
ferentially by  others,  and  needed  also  for  mummy-cloths, 
corselets,  and  various  other  uses.  Spelt,  like  wheat,  is  rep- 
resented on  the  inonuments,1T  and  according  to  Herodotus, 
was  the  grain  ordinarily  consumed  by  the  Egyptians,**  as  is 
the  doora — probably  the  same  plant — at  the  present  day. 
Herodotus  also  witnesses  to  the  cultivation  of  onions  and  ot 
garlick,ft  while  that  of  cucumbers  is  attested  by  their  being 
frequently  figured  in  the  tombs.  The  leeks  of  Egypt  had 
the  character  of  being  superior  to  all  others  in  the  time  of 
Pliny,  tt  which  would  imply  a  long  anterior  cultivation.  Mel- 
ons are  among  the  most  abundant  of  the  modern  products, 
but  their  growth  in  ancient  times  seems  not  to  be  distinctly 
attested. 

The  abundant  use  of  personal  ornaments  by  the  Egyptians, 
and  especially  of  ornaments  in  silver  and  gold,  implied  in  the 
dii-ection  given  to  the  Israelites  to  "  borrow  "  such  things  of 
their  neighbors  and  lodgers  before  their  departure  from 
Egypt  (ch.  iii.  22),  and  in  the  "  spoil "  which  they  thus  ac- 
quired (ch.  xii.  36),  is  among  the  facts  most  copiously  attested 
by  the  extant  remains.  Ornaments  in  gold  and  silver  have 
been  found  in  the  tombs,  not  only  of  the  great  and  opulent, 
but  even  of  comparatively  poor  persons ;  they  were  frequently 

*  Sec  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  5i.,  pp.  418-427. 
t  The  Egyptian  wheat  being  bearded,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  in  some 
cases  whether  barley  or  wheat  is  represented. 

|  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  75.          §  Ibid.,  vol.  viii.,  p.  44. 
||  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  42. 
1"  Ibid.,  p.  427.  *»  Herod .  ii.  36 

tt  Herod.,  ii.  125.  tt  Plin-,  "  H.X."  xix.  33. 


1G2  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

worn  by  the  men,  and  probably  few  women  were  without 
them.  Among  the  articles  obtained  from  the  tombs  are 
"  rings,  bracelets,  armlets,  necklaces,  earrings,  and  numerous 
trinkets  belonging  to  the  toilet."  *  Most  of  these  articles 
were  common  to  the  two  sexes ;  but  ear-rings  were  affected 
especially,  if  not  exclusively,  by  the  women. 

Egyptian  men  of  the  upper  class  carried,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  "  walking-sticks."  f  Hence  the  "  rod  "  of  Aaron  was 
naturally  brought  into  the  presence  of  Pharaoh  (ch.  vii.  10)  ; 
and  the  magicians  had  also  "  rods  "  in  their  hands  (ib.  ver. 
12),  which  they  "  cast  down  "  before  Pharaoh,  as  Aaron  had 
cast  his.  These  "  rods,"  or  rather  "  sticks,"  are  continually 
represented  on  the  monuments  :  no  Egyptian  lord  is  with- 
out one ;  t  at  an  entertainment  there  was  an  attendant  whose 
especial  duty  it  was  to  receive  the  sticks  of  the  male  guests 
on  their  arrival,  and  restore  them  at  their  departure.  § 

The  Egyptians  employed  "furnaces"  (ch.  ix.  8)  for  vari- 
ous purposes,  "  (ch.  viii.  3)  for  the  baking  of  their  bread, 
"  kneading-troughs  "  (ibid,)  for  the  formation  of  the  dough, 
and  "  hand-mills  "  (ch.  xi.  5)  for  the  grinding  of  the  corn  into 
flour.  "  Their  mills,"  says  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson,  "  were 
of  simple  and  rude  construction.  They  consisted  of  two 
circular  stones,  nearly  flat,  the  lower  one  fixed,  while  the 
other  turned  on  a  pivot,  or  shaft,  rising  from  the  centre  of 
that  beneath  it ;  and  the  grain,  descending  through  an  aper- 
ture in  the  upper  stone,  immediately  above  the  pivot, 
gradually  underwent  the  process  of  grinding  as  it  passed. 
It  was  turned  by  a  woman,  seated  and  holding  a  handle  fixed 
perpendicularly  near  the  edge.  .  .  .  The  stone  of  which  the 
hand-mills  were  made  was  usually  a  hard  grit."  ||  Sir  Gard- 
ner adds  in  a  note  that  he  draws  these  conclusions  from  the 
fragments  of  the  old  stones  discovered  among  the  ancient 
remains.  The  same  writer  witnesses  to  the  use  by  the 
ancient  Egyptians  of  furnaces,  ovens,  and  kneading  troughs.lF 

One  curious  custom  of  an  Egyptian  household  obtains 
incidental  mention  in  the  account  of  the  first  plague,  viz., 

*  Wilkinson,  "Ancient  Egyptians."  vol.  ii.,  p.  236. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  28;  vol.  Hi.,  p.  447. 

J  Birch,  "  Kgypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  45:  "The  Egyptian 
lord  .  .  .  carried  a  warn!  or  walking-stick  as  a  sign  of  dignity  or  au- 
thority." 

§  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  i.,  pi.  xi.,  fig.  10. 

II  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  .%». 

i  Wilkinson,  "Ancient  Egyptians."  vol.  ii.,  pp.  34,  192. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  163 

the  storing  of  water  in  vessels  of  wood  and  in  vessels  of 
stone  "  (ch.  vii.  19).  Water  being  exceedingly  abundant  in 
Egypt  by  reason  of  the  Nile,  with  its  numerous  branches, 
natural  and  artificial,  which  conveyed  the  indispensable  fluid 
almost  to  every  house,  "  storing"  would  have  been  quite  un- 
necessary but  for  one  circumstance.  The  Nile  water  during 
the  period  of  the  inundation  is  turbid,  and  requires  to  be 
kept  for  a  considerable  time  before  it  becomes  palatable  and 
n't  for  use  by  the  muddy  particles  sinking  gradually  to  the 
bottom,  and  leaving  pure  water  a\  the  top.  To  produce  this 
effect,  it  has  always  been,  and  still  is,  usual  to  keep  the  Nile 
water  in  jars,  or  stone-troughs,  until  the  sediment  is  deposited, 
and  the  fluid  rendered  fit  for  drinking.* 

Another  still  more  remarkable  custom  is  brought  under 
notice  by  the  narrative  in  ch.  i.  "  When  ye  do  the  office  of 
a  midwife  to  the  Hebrew  women,"  says  the  Pharaoh  to 
Shiphrah  and  Puah,  "  and  see  them  upon  the  stools,  if  it  be 
a  son,  then  ye  shall  kill  him,"  etc.  The  incident  is  one  which 
its  delicate  nature  unfits  for  representation,  and  the  monu- 
ments thus  fail  to  confirm  it ;  but  a  modern  practice,  peculiar, 
as  far  as  we  know,  to  Egypt,  is  probably  the  direct  de- 
scendant of  the  ancient  one,  and  at  any  rate  lends  it  illus- 
tration. "  Two  or  three  days  before  the  expected  time  of 
delivery,"  says  Mr.  Lane,  in  his  account  of  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  modern  Egyptians,  "the  layah  (midwife) 
conveys  to  the  house  the  'kursee  elwilddeli,  a  chair  of  a 
peculiar  form,  upon  which  the  patient  is  to  be  seated  during 
the  birth."  f 

The  ordinary  food  of  the  Israelites  during  the  time  of 
their  sojourn  in  Egypt  is  stated  in  one  place  (Exod.  x-vi.  3) 
to  have  consisted  of  "  bread  "  and  "  flesh."  But  from  an- 
other we  can  learn  that  it  embraced  also  "fish  "  in  abundance, 
and  likewise  the  following  vegetables  :  "  cucumbers,  melons, 
leeks,  onions,  and  garlic"  (Numb.  xi.  5)  That  bread  was 
its  staple  may  be  gathered  from  the  institution  of  the  feast 
of  unleavened  bread  (ch.  xii.  15-20),  as  well  as  from  the 
mention  of  "dough"  (ibid.  vers.  34,  3D)  as  the  only  provision 
that  they  took  with  them,  besides  their  beasts,  when  they 
quitted  the  country.  Now  "  bread  "  was  certainly  "  the  staff 
of  life  "  to  the  Egyptian  nation,  and  the  food  on  which  they,. 

*  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  428.  Compare 
Pococke,  "  Travels,"  vol.  i.,  p.  312. 

T  Lane,  "  Modern  Egyptians,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  142. 


164  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

would  naturally  nourish  their  slaves.  We  find  a  king  stating 
that  he  offered  in  a  single  temple  loaves  of  three  distinct 
kinds,  viz.,  "  best  bread,"  "  great  loaves  of  bread  for  eating," 
and  "  loaves  of  barley  bread,"  to  the  amount  of  6,272,431.* 
He  also  offered  to  the  same  temple  5,279,552  bushels  of 
corn.f  "Bread"  is  the  ordinary  representative  of  food 
in  Egyptian  speech.  The  good  man  gives  bread  to  the 
hungry  "  ;  $  artisans  labor  for  "  bread  "  ;  §  "  bread  "  is  taken 
out  to  the  rustics  who  work  in  the  fields,  ||  and  is  brought  for 
the  repast  of  young  maidens.  IF  Flesh,  on  the  other  hand, 
thoiigh  largely  consumed  by  the  rich,  was  generally  beyond 
the  means  of  the  poor ;  and  the  Israelites  longing  after  the 
"  ileshpots  "  of  Egypt  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  suppos- 
ing that  the  king  nourished  his  laborers  on  a  more  generous 
diet  that  was  obtainable  by  the  working  classes  generally. 
It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  they  received  flesh  often.  We 
have  probably  in  Num.  xi.  5  the  main  constituents  of  their 
dietary  in  addition  to  bread.  Fish,  which  they  "did  eat  in 
Egypt  freely,"  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  principal  articles 
of  food  consumed  by  the  lower  orders.  Herodotus  says 
that  a  certain  number  of  the  poorer  Egyptians  "  lived  entirely 
on  fish."  **  It  was  so  abundant  that  it  was  necessarily  cheap. 
The  Nile  produced  several  ki-nds,  which  were  easily  caught ; 
and  in  Lake  Moeris  the  abundance  of  the  fish  was  such  that 
the  Pharaohs  are  said  to  have  derived  from  the  sale  a  re- 
venue of  above  £94,000  a  year.ff  Lake  Menzaleh  also,  and 
the  other  lakes  near  the  coast,  must  have  yielded  a  con- 
siderable supply.  The  fishermen  of  Egypt  formed  a  numerous 
class,$$  and  the  salting  and  drying  of  fish  furnished  occupa- 
tion to  a  large  number  of  persons.§§  The  quantity  of  vege- 
table food  which  the  poorer  Egyptians  consumed  is  noted 
by  Diodorus.  ||  ||  and  Herodotus  makes  out  that  the  laborers 
whom  Khufu  (Cheops)  employed  to  build  the  great  pyramid 
subsisted  mainly,  if  not  wholly,  on  radishes,  onions,  and 
garlic.  HIT  Cucurbitaceous  vegetables  are  at  present  among 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  44,  line  5. 

t  Ibid.,  vol  viii.,  p.  45,  line  12. 

}  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  46. 

§  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  150. 

II  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  139.  T  Ibid.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  151. 

••  Herod,  ii.  92.  tt  Ibid.  ii.  149. 

tt  Herod.  11.  92,  95  ;  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  153. 
§§  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  115-8. 
III!  Diod.  Sic.  i.  80.  1TT  Herod,  ii.  125. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  165 

the  most  abundant  productions  of  the  Egyptian  soil,  and  the 
monuments  frequently  exhibit  them.*  On  the  whole,  there- 
fore, the  dietary  assigned  to  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  may  be 
pronounced  subh  as  the  country  was  well  capable  of  furnish- 
ing, and  such  as  agrees  in  most  particulars  with  the  ordinary 
food  of  the  Egyptian  laboring  class. 

The  customs  connected  with  farming  and  cattle-keeping 
noticed  in  Exodus  and  the  later  books  of  the  Pentateuch  in- 
clude, besides  the  cultivation  of  certain  cereals  already  men- 
tioned, (a)  the  comparative  lateness  of  the  wheat  and  doora 
harvest(ch.  ix.  31,  32) ;  (£>)  the  leaving  of  stubble  in  the  fields 
after  the  gathering  in  of  the  crops  (ch.  v.  12)  ;  (c)  the  general 
cultivation  of  the  land  after  the  fashion  of  a  garden  (Deut. 
xi.  10)  ;  (d)  the  employment  of  irrigation  in  such  a  way  that 
the  "  foot "  could  direct  the  course  of  the  life-giving  fluid 
(ibid.) ;  (e)  the  cultivation  of  fruit-trees  (Exod.  ix.  25 ;  x. 
15) ;  and  (f\  the  keeping  of  cattle,  partly  in  the  fields, 
partly  in  stalls,  or  the  sheds,  where  the  were  protected  from 
the  weather  (ch.  ix.  19-25).  With  respect  to  the  first  of 
these  points,  it  may  be  observed  that  there  is  exactly  the 
same  difference  now  as  that  which  the  writer  of  Exodus 
notes, — "  Barley  ripens  and  flax  blossom  about  themiddle  of 
February,  or,  at  the  latest,  early  in  March,"  f  while  the 
wheat  harvest  does  not  begin  till  April.  There  is  thus  a  full 
month  between  the  barley  and  the  wheat  harvest. $  The 
doora  is  also  a  late  crop. 

The  mode  of  reaping  wheat  which  prevailed  in  ancient 
Egypt  is  amply  represented  upon  the  monuments,  and  ap- 
pears to  have  been  such  as  to  leave  abundant  stubble  in  the 
fields,  as  implied  in  ch.  v.  12.  Not  more  than  about  a  foot 
of  the  straw  was  cut  with  the  ear,  two  feet  or  more  being 
left.  §  The  barley  was  probably  reaped  in  the  same  way. 

It  is  not,  perhaps,  quite  clear  what  is  meant  in  Deut.  xi. 
10  by  the  land  of  Egypt  being  cultivated  "  as  a  garden  of 
herbs  "  ;  but  most  probably  the  reference  is,  as  Wilkinson 
suggests,  ||  to  the  ordinary  implement  of  cultivation,  the 
plough  being  largely  dispensed  with,  and  a  slight  dressing 
with  the  hoe,  if  even  so  much  as  that,  nsed  instead.  Hero 

*  Wilkinson,  "  Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol  iii.,  pp.  419,  431. 

t  Canon  Cook  in  the  ''  Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  i.,  p.  280. 

t  Birch  in  Wilkinson's  "Ancient  Egyptians,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  42,  note, 

§  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  418-4:27. 

y  Wilkinson,  "Ancient  Egyptiajis,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  389,  note. 


1 66  EG  TP  T  AND  BAB  YL  ON. 

dotus  witnesses  to  the  pi'evalence  of  this  method  of  cultiva- 
tion,*  and  the  monuments  occasionally  represent  it. 

The  absolute  necessity  of  irrigation,  and  the  nature  of 
the  irrigation,  implied  in  the  expression,  "  where  thou  sowedst 
thy  seeds,  and  wateredst  it  with  thy  foot  "  (Deut.  xi.  10), 
receive  illustration  from  the  pictures  in  the  tombs,  which 
show  us  the  fields  surrounded  by  broad  canals,  and  inter- 
sected everywhere  by  cuttings  from  them,  continually  dimin- 
ishing in  size,  until  at  last  they  are  no  more  than  rills  banked 
up  with  a  little  mud,  which  the  hand  or  "  foot  "  might  readily 
remove  and  replace,  so  turning  the  water  in  any  direction 
that  might  be  required  by  the  cultivator. 

Fruit-trees  are  represented  on  the  monuments  as  largely 
cultivated  and  much  valued.  Among  them  the  vine  holds 
the  foremost  place.  A  sceptical  critic  was  once  bold  enough 
to  assert  that  the  statements  in  the  Pentateuch  which  implied 
the  existence  of  the  vine  in  Egypt  were  distinct  evidence  of 
"  the  late  origin  of  the  narrative."  f  But  the  tombs  of  Beni- 
hassan,  which  are  anterior  to  the  Exodus,  contain  "  represen- 
tations of  the  culture  of  the  vine,  the  vintage,  the  stripping 
off  and  carrying  away  of  the  grapes,  of  two  kinds  of  wine- 
presses, the  one  moved  by  the  strength  of  human  arms,  the 
other  by  mechanical  power,  the  storing  of  wine  in  bottles  or 
jars,  and  its  transportation  into  the  cellar.":):  No  one  now 
doubts  that  the  vine  was  cultivated  in  Egypt  from  a  time 
long  anterior  to  Moses.  The  fig  and  the  date-bearing  palm 
were  likewise  grown  for  the  sake  of  the  fruit,  grapes,  figs 
and  dates  constituting  the  Egyptian  lord's  usual  dessert, § 
while  the  last-named  fruit  was  also  made  into  a  conserve,! 
which  diversified  the  diet  at  rich  men's  tables. 

The  breeding  arid  rearing  of  cattle  was  a  regular  part  of 
the  farmer's  business  in  Egypt,  and  the  wealth  of  individuals 
in  flocks  and  herds  was  considerable.  Three  distinct  kinds 
of  cattle  were  affected — the  long-horned,  the  short-horned, 
and  the  hornless. H  "  During  the  greater  part  of  the  year 
they  were  pastured  in  open  fields,  on  the  natural  growth  of 
the  rich  soil,  or  on  artificial  grasses,  which  were  cultivated 
for  the  purpose ;  but  at  the  time  of  the  inundation  it  was 

*  Herod,  ii.  14. 

t  Von  Bohlen,  "  Die  Genesis  historisch-critisch  erlautert,  §  373. 
t  Chainpollion,  quoted  by  Hengstenberg,  "Egypt  and  the  Books 
of  Moses,"  p.  15. 

§  Birch,  "Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  46. 

II  Wilkinson,  "Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  43.  IT  Ibid. 


NOTICES  IN  EXODUS.  167 

necessary  to  bring  them  in  from  the  fields  to  the  farmyards 
or  the  villages,  where  they  were  kept  in  sheds  or  pens  on 
ground  artificially  raised,  so  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
river."*  Thus  the  cattle  generally  had  "  houses  "  (Exod.  ix. 
20),  i.e.,  sheds  or  stalls,  into  which  it  was  possible  to  bring 
them  at  short  notice. 

Among  "  miscellaneous  customs  "  the  following  seem  most 
worthy  of  notice :  (a)  the  practice  of  making  boats  out  of 
bulrushes  (ch.  ii.  3  ;  compare  Isa.  xviii.  2),  and  (b)  the 
position  occupied  by  magic  at  the  court  of  the  Pharaohs. 
On  the  former  point  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  remarks  f  : 
"  There  was  a  small  kind  of  punt  or  canoe  made  entirely  of 
the  papyrus,  bound  together  with  bands  of  the  same  plant — • 
the  '  vessels  of  bulrushes'  mentioned  in  Isa.  xviii.  2."  On 
the  latter  M.  Maspero  makes  the  following  statement  $: 
"  Magic  was  in  Egypt  a  science,  and  the  magician  one  of  the 
most  esteemed  of  learned  men.  The  nobles  themselves,  the 
prince  Khamuas  and  his  brother,  were  adepts  in  the  super- 
natural arts,  and  decipherers  of  magic  formularies,  in  which 
they  had  an  entire  belief.  A  prince  who  was  a  sorcerer 
would  nowadays  inspire  a  very  moderate  sentiment  of  es- 
teem. In  Egypt  the  profession  of  magic  was  not  incompati- 
ble with  royalty,  and  the  sorcerers  of  a  Pharaoh  had  not 
uncommonly  the  Pharaoh  himself  for  their  pupil."  The 
magical  texts  form  a  considerable  portion  of  the  MSS.  which 
have  come  down  to  us  from  ancient  times,  particularly  from 
the  nineteenth  dynasty;  and  the  composition  of  some  of 
them  was  ascribed  to  a  divine  source. 

*  "Rawlinson,  "  History  of  Ancient  Egypt,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  171,  172. 
t  In  Rawlinson 's  "Herodotus,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  154,  note, 
t  Quoted  by  M.  Lenormant,  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Aucienue."  vol 
iL,  pp.  126-7. 


168  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

NOTICES    OF   EGYPT   IN    THE    FIRST   BOOK    OF    KINGS. 

IT  is,  at  first  sight,  surprising  that  there  is  no  mention  of 
Egypt  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  Israelites  be- 
tween the  Exodus  and  the  reign  of  Solomon.  The  interval 
is  one  of,  at  least,  three  hundred — perhaps  of  four  hundred 
— years.  During  its  earlier  portion,  and  again  about  a  cen- 
tury before  its  close,  the  Egyptian  monarchs  conducted  ex- 
peditions into  Northern  Syria,  if  not  even  into  Mesopotamia, 
which  might  have  been  expected  to  have  brought  them  into 
contact  with  the  Hebrew  people  ;  but  the  Hebrew  records 
of  the  time  are  entirely  silent  on  the  subject,  and  indeed 
only  mention  Egypt  retrospectively,  as  the  place  where 
Israel  had  once  suffered  affliction.*  Perhaps  the  earlier  ex- 
peditions— those  of  Rameses  Ill.f — may  have  taken  place 
while  Israel  was  still  detained  in  the  "  Wilderness  of  the 
Wanderings,"  in  which  case  there  would  naturally  have  been 
no  collision  between  the  two  peoples ;  while  those  of  Rame- 
ses XII4  and  of  Herhor  §  (about  B.  c.  1130-1100),  having 
Syria  rather  than  Palestine  for  their  object,  may  have  been 
conducted  along  the  coast  route  by  way  of  Philistia  and 
Phoenicia  into  Code-Syria,  and  so  have  left  the  Israelite  terri- 
tory untouched,  or  nearly  untouched.  The  main  explanation, 
however,  of  the  disappearance  of  Egypt  from  the  narrative, 
is  to  be  found  in  her  general  depression  and  weakness  during 
the  period  in  question,  which  prevented  any  real  conquests 
from  being  made,  or  any  large  armies  sent  into  Western  Asia, 
as  in  the  earlier  times  of  Thotmes  III.,  Amcnhotep  II.,  Seti, 
and  Rameses  II.,  or  in  the  later  ones  of  Sheshonk  andNeku. 
This  depression  is  very  marked  in  the  Egyptian  remains, 

•  Josh.  1.  10  :  xxiv.  4-7,  14,  17;  1  Sam.  ii.  27:  vi.  6 ;  x.  18;  xii.  6-8. 
f  Ilrugdch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  vol.  ii  ,  p.  152. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  184-7  ;  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times," 
?p.  141M53.  §  Birch,  p.  154. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  KINGS.         169 

which  show  no  really  great  or  conquering  monarch  between 
Ramescs  III.  and  Sheshonk  I.  During  this  space,  which  is 
that  of  the  judges  and  first  two  kings  in  Israel,  Egypt  really 
ceased  to  be  an  aggressive  power. 

The  Scriptural  notices  of  Egypt  belonging  to  the  reign 
of  Solomon  are  the  following: — 

1.  "Solomon  made  affinity  with  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  and  took 
Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  brought  her  into  the  city  of  David." — 1 
KINGS  iii.  1. 

2.  "  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  had  gone  up  and  taken  Gezer,  and 
burnt  it  with  fire,  and  slain  the  Cauaanites  that  dwelt  in  the  city,  and 
given  it  for  a  present  unto  his  daughter,  Solomon's  wife." — 1  KINGS 
ix.  16. 

8.  "  Solomon  had  horses  brought  out  of  Egypt,  and  linen  yarn  ; 
the  king's  merchants  received  the  linen  yarn  at  a  price.  And  a  chariot 
came  up  and  went  out  of  Egypt  for  six  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and 
an  horse  for  a  hundred  and  fifty :  and  so  for  all  the  kings  of  the 
Hittities,  and  for  the  kings  of  Syria,  did  they  bring  them  out  by  their 
means." — 1  KINGS  x.  28,  29. 

4.  "The  Lord  stirred  up  an  adversary  unto  Solomon,  Hadad  the 
Edomite:  he  was  of  the  king's  seed  in  Edom.     For  it  came  to  pass, 
when  David  was  in  Edom,  and  Joab,  the  captain  of  the  host,  was 
gone  up  to  bury  the  slain,  after  he  had  smitten  every  male  in  Edom, 
.  .  .  that  Hadad  fled,  he  and  certain  Edomitesof  his  father's  servants 
with  him,  to  go  into  Egypt,  Hadad  being  yet  a  little  child  ;  and  they 
arose  out  of  Midian,  and  came  to  Paran  ;  and  they  took  men  with 
them  out  of  Paran,  and  they  came  to  Egypt,  unto  Pharaoh,  king  of 
Egypt,  which  gave  him  an  house,  and  appointed  him  victuals,  and 
gave  him  land .  And  Hadad  found  great  favor  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh, 
so  that  he  gave  him  to  wife  the  sister  of  his  own  wife,  the  sister  of 
Tahpenes  the  queen;  and  the  sister  of  Tahpenes  bare  him  Genubath, 
his  son,  whom  Tahpenes  weaned  in  Pharaoh's  house:  and  Genubath 
was  in  Pharaoh's  household,  among  the  sons  of  Pharaoh." — 1  KINGS 
xi.  14-20 

5.  "Solomon  sought  to  kill  Jeroboam.    And  Jeroboam  arose  and 
fled  into  Egypt,  unto  Shishak,  .  .  .  unto  the  death  of  Solomon." — 1 
KINGS  xi.  40. 

There  is  nothing  surprising  in  the  willingness  of  a 
Pharaoh  of  the  twenty-first  dynasty  to  give  a  daughter  in 
marriage  to  the  foreign  monarch  of  a  neighboring  country 
Even  in  the  most  flourishing  times  the  kings  of  Egypt  had 
been  willing  to  form  matrimonial  alliances  with  the  Ethio- 
pian royal  house,  and  had  both  taken  Ethiopian  princesses 
for  their  own  wives*  and  given  their  daughters  in  marriage 
to  Ethiopian  monarchs.  The  last  king  of  the  twentieth 
dynasty  married  a  "  princess  of  Baktan  "  f — a  Syrian  or 

*  Birch,  "  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  pp  81,  107,  etc. 
t  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  57. 


170  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Mesopotamian ;  and  even  the  great  Rameses  married  a 
Hittite.  *  According  to  1  Chron.  iv.  18,  there  was  one 
Pharaoh  who  allowed  a  daughter  of  his  to  marry  a  mere 
ordinary  Israelite.  To  "make  affinity"  with  a  prince  of 
Solomon's  rank  and  position  would  have  been  beneath  the 
dignity  of  few  Egyptian  monarchs  ;  it  was  probably  felt  as 
a  highly  satisfabtory  connection  by  the  weak  Tanite  prince 
whose  daughter  made  so  good  a  match. 

With  which  of  the  Tanite  monarchs  it  was  that  Solo- 
mon thus  allied  himself  is  uncertain.  M.  Lenormant  fixes 
definitely  on  Hor-Pasebensha,f  or  Pasebensha  II.,  the  last 
king  of  the  dynasty ;  but  an  earlier  monarch  is  more  prob- 
able. Solomon's  marriage  was  early  in  his  reign  (1  Kings 
iii.  1),  and  he  reigned  forty  years  (ch.  xi.  42),  during  the 
last  five  or  ten  of  which  he  would  seem  to  have  been  con- 
temporary with  Saishak  (ch.  xi.  40).  When  he  ascended 
the  throne,  and  the  king  who  reigned  in  Egypt  was  probably 
either  Pasebensha  I.  or  Pinetem  II.  Unfortunately  these 
monarchs  have  left  such  scanty  remains,  that  we  know  next 
to  nothing  concerning  them. 

The  conquest  of  Gezer  by  this  Pharaoh,  whoever  he  was, 
and  its  transference  to  Solomon  as  his  wife's  dowry  (ch.  ix. 
16),  though  it  cannot  be  confirmed  from  Egyptian  history, 
may  be  illustrated  from  Assyrian.  Sargon  tells  us  in  one  of 
his  inscriptions  that,  having  conquered  the  country  of  Cilicia 
with  some  difficulty,  on  account  of  its  great  natural  strength, 
he  made  it  over  to  Ambris,  King  of  Tubal,  who  had  married 
one  of  his  daughters,  as  the  princess's  dowry.t 

The  establishment  of  commercial  relations  between  Pal- 
estine and  Syria  on  the  one  hand  and  Egypt  on  the  other 
(ch.  x.  28,  29)  is  exactly  what  might  have  been  expected  to 
follow  on  the  matrimonial  alliance  concluded  between  Solo- 
mon and  his  Egyptian  contemporary.  When  Rameses  II. 
allied  himself  with  the  Hittite  royal  house,  interchange  of 
commodities  between  Egypt  and  Syria  is  the  immediate 
consequence.  Corn  is  sent  by  sea  from  the  valley  of  the 
Nile  to  the  Syrian  mountain  tract  for  the  support  of  the 
"  children  of  Heth,"  §  who  doubtless  made  a  return  in  timber, 
or  some  other  products  of  their  own  soil.  In  Solomon's 

*  Lenormant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  264. 

tlbid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  329. 

t  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  442,  note  383. 

§  "  llecords  of  the  Past,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  42,  1.  24. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  KINGS.        171 

time  the  Egyptian  commodities  imported  by  the  Western 
Asiatics  were  different.  Long  practice  had  perfected  in 
Egypt  the  manufacture  of  chariots,  and  these  had  become 
indispensable  to  the  Hittite  and  Syrian  kings  for  the  main- 
tenance of  their  independence  against  the  encroachments  of 
Assyria.  Each  king  of  these  peoples — and  there  were  several 
kings  of  each  * — maintained  a  war  force  of  several  hundred 
chariots,!  for  .each  of  which  were  needed  two  well-trained 
horses.  These  Egypt  supplied,  together  (if  our  translators 
are  right)  with  "  linen  yarn,"  also  a  commodity  known  to 
have  been  produced  largely  in  that  country  4 

The  story  of  Hadad's  flight  to  Egypt  and  hospitable  re- 
ception by  an  Egyptian  Pharaoh,  whose  queen's  name  was 
Tahpenes,  admits  of  no  illustration  from  profane  sources. 
We  do  not  know  the  names  borne  by  the  queens  of  the 
later  monarchs  of  the  twenty-first  dynasty,  and  we  have 
thus  no  means  of  identifying  the  Pharaoh  intended.  No 
doubt  Egypt  was  at  all  times  open  as  a  refuge  to  political 
exiles  ;  but  there  must  have  been  special  reasons  for  the  high 
favor  shown  to  Hadad.  Perhaps  he  was  already  connected 
by  blood  with  the  Tanite  monarchs ;  perhaps  Edom  had 
been  in  alliance  with  Egypt  before  David  conquered  it. 

Jeroboam's  flight  to  Shishak  brings  before  us  an  Egyptian 
monarch  who  is  fortunately  unmistakable.  Hitherto  the 
sacred  writers  have  been  content,  when  mentioning  Egyptian 
kings,  to  speak  of  them  by  their  recognized  official  title  of 
"  Pharaoh.  §  Now  for  the  first  time  is  this  habit  broken 
through,  and  the  actual  proper  name  of  an  Egyptian  mon- 
arch presented  to  us.  The  Hebrew  Shishak  (ptjpB')  repre- 
sents almost  exactly  the  Egyptian  name  ordinarily  written 
"  Sheshenk,"  but  sometimes  "  Sheshek,"  ||  and  expressed  in 
the  fragments  of  Monetho  by  Sesonchis,  (Seauy^f  ).1f  This 
is  a  name  well  known  to  Egyptologists.  Wholly  absent 
from  all  the  earlier  Egyptian  monuments,  it  appears  sud- 
denly in  those  of  the  twenty-second  (Bubastite)  dynasty, 
where  it  is  borne  by  no  less  than  four  monarchs,  besides 

*  "  See  2  Sam.  viii.  3-12  ;  x.  6-16  ;  1  Kings  x.  29  ;  2  Kings  vii.  6  ; 
and  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  passim. 

T  "  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  409,  note  209. 

J  Hf-rod.  ii.  37,  182;  iii.  47;  Plin.,  "  H.  N."  xix.  1. 

§  See  above,  cli.  xiii. 

||  Lepsius,  "  Ueber  die  XXII.  ^Egyptische  Konigs  dynastic,"  pp 
267,  289. 

1  Syncellus,  "  Chronographia,"  pp.  73o,  74D. 


172  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

occurring  also  among  the  names  of  private  individuals.  This 
abundance  would  be  somewhat  puzzling  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  one  only  of  the  four  monnrchs  is  a  warrior,  or  leads 
any  expedition  beyond  the  borders.*  The  records  of  the 
time  leave  no  doubt  that  the  prince  who  received  Jeroboam 
was  Sheshonk  I.,  the  founder  of  the  Bubastite  line,  the  son 
of  Namrot  and  Tentespeh,  the  first  king  of  the  twenty-second 
dynasty. 

"  It  came  to  pass  in  tbe  fifth  year  of  King  Kehoboam  that  Shishak, 
Icing  of  Egypt,  came  up  against  Jerusalem;  and  he  took  away  the 
treasures^  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  treasures  of  the  king's 
house;  he  even  took  away  all;  arid  he  took  away  all  the  shields  of  gold 
which  Solomon  had  made." — 1  KINGS  xiv.  25,  26. 

With  this  may  be  compared  2  Chron.  xii.  1-9 ; — 

"And  it  came  to  pas!,  when  Rehoboam  had  established  the  king- 
dom, and  had  strengthened  himself,  he  forsook  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
and  all  Israel  with  him;  and  it  came  to  pass,  that  in  the  fifth  year  of 
King  Rehoboam  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  came  up  against  Jerusalem, 
because  they  had  transgressed  against  the  Lord,  with  twelve  hundred 
chariots  and  threescore  thousand  horsemen;  and  the  people  were 
without  number  that  came  with  him  out  of  Egypt — the  Lubims,  and 
the  Sukkiims,  and  the  Ethiopians.  And  he  took  the  fenced  cities 
which  pertained  to  Judah,  and  came  to  Jerusalem.  Then  came 
Shemaiah  the.  prophet  to  Rehoboam,  and  to  the  princes  of  Judah  that 
were  gathered  together  to  Jerusalem  because  of  Shishak,  and  said 
unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  have  forsaken  Me,  and  therefore 
also  have  I  left  you  in  the  hand  of  Shishak.  Whereupon  the  princes 
of  Israel  and  the  king  humbled  themselves,  and  they  said,  the  Lord  is 
righteous.  And  when  the  Lord  saw  that  they  humbled  themselves, 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Shemaiah,  saying,  They  have  humbled 
themselves;  therefore  I  will  not  destroy  them,  but  I  will  grant  them 
some  deliverance;  and  My  wrath  shall  not  be  poured  out  upon  Jeru- 
salem by  the  hand  of  Shishak.  Nevertheless  they  shall  be  his  servants, 
that  they  may  know  My  service  and  the  service  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
countries.  So  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  came  up  against  Jerusalem, 
and  took  away  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  treas- 
ures of  the  king's  house:  lie  took  all;  he  carried  away  also  the  shields 
of  gold  which  Solomon  had  made." 

The  Palestinian  expedition  of  Sheshonk  I.  forms  the 
subject  of  a  remarkable  bas-relief,t  which,  on  his  return 
from  it,  he  caused  to  be  executed  in  commemoration  of  its 
complete  success.  Selecting  the  Great  Temple  of  Karnak, 

•  Lenormant,  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  340. 
t  For  a  representation  of  this  monument,  see  the  "  Denkmaler  "  of 
Lcpsius,  part  iii.  pis,  252  and  253  o. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  FIXST  BOOK  OF  JCINGti.         173 

at  Thebes,  which  Seti  I.  and  Rameses  II.  had  already 
adorned  profusely  with  representations  of  their  victories,  he 
built  against  its  southern  external  wall  a  fresh  portico  of 
colonnade,  known  to  Egyptologists  as  "  the  portico  of  the 
Bubastites,"  and  carved  upon  the  wall  itself,  to  the  east  of 
his  portico,  a  memorial  of  his  grand  campaign.  F'irst,  he 
represented  himself  in  his  war  costume,  holding  by  the  hair 
of  their  heads  with  his  left  hand  thirty-eighty  captive  Asiatic 
chiefs,  and  with  an  iron  mace  uplifted  in  his  right  threatening 
them  with  destruction.  Further,  he  caused  himself  to  be 
figured  a  second  time,  and  represented  in  the  act  of  leading 
captive  a  hundred  and  thirty-three  cities  or  tribes,  each 
specified  by  name  and  personified  in  an  individual  form,  ac- 
companied by  a  cartouche  containing  their  respective  names. 
In  the  physiognomies  of  these  ideal  figures  the  critical 
acumen  or  lively  imagination  of  a  French  historian  sees 
rendered  "  with  marvelous  ethnographic  exactness"  the  Jew- 
ish type  of  countenance ;  *  but  less  gifted  travelers  do  not 
find  anything  very  peculiar  in  the  profiles,  which,  whether 
representing  Jews  or  Arabs,  are  almost  exactly  alike. 

The  list  of  names  contained  in  the  record  is  very  much 
more  interesting  than  the  array  of  countenances  accompany- 
ing them.  They  have  been  carefully  transcribed,  and  com- 
pared with  those  which  occur  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  both 
by  Mr.  Reginald  Stuart  Poolef  and  by  Dr.  Brugsch.J  It  re- 
sults from  the  comparison,  first,  that  of  the  ninety  names 
which  are  legible  about  forty  or  forty-five  may  be  pretty 
certainly  identified  either  with  Palestinian  towns  or  districts 
or  with  Arab  tribes  of  the  neighborhood  ;  secondly,  that 
the  Arab  tribe  names  are  in  several  instances  repeated  ;  and 
thirdly,  that  the  Palestinian  town  names  are  divisible  into 
three  classes :  (a)  cities  of  Judah  proper,  (b)  Levitical  cities 
within  the  limits  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  (c)  Canaanite 
cities  within  the  same  limits.  To  the  first-class  belong 
Adoraim  (called  Aduruma),  Aijalon  (called  Ayulon),  and 
Shoco  (called  Shauke),  which  were  among  the  "  fenced  cities'* 
that  Rehoboam  fortified  in  anticipation  of  Sheshonk's  attack 
('2  Chron.  xi.  5-10);  alsoGibeon  (Kebeana),  Alemeth  (Beith- 
almoth),  Beth-Tap] mah  (Beith-Tapuh)  Telem  (Zalema), 

*  Lenormant.  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  340, 
t  See   the   article  on  SHISHAK  in  Smith's    "  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible,"  vol.  iii. 

t  "Geschichte  ^Egyptens  unter  den  Pharaonen,"  pp.  660-662. 


174  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Azem  (Aauzamaa),  and  Lebaoth  (Libith).  To  the  second 
class  may  be  assigned  Taanach  (Ta'ankau),  mentioned  as  a 
Levitical  city  in  Josh.  xxi.  25  ;  Rehob  (Rehabau),  mentioned 
in  Josh.  xxi.  31  and  1  Chron.  vi.  75  ;  Mahanaim  (Mahunema), 
mentioned  Josh.  xxi.  38,  1  Chron.  vi.  80  ;  Beth-horon 
(Beith-Huaron),  mentioned  Josh.  xxi.  22,  1  Chron.  vi.  68 ; 
Kedemoth  (Kademoth),  mentioned  Josh.  xxi.  37,  1  Chron. 
vi.  79 ;  Bileam  (Bilema),  mentioned  1  Chron.  vi.  70 ;  Gol- 
an (Galenaa),  mentioned  Josh.  xxi.  27,  1  Chron..  vi.  71  ; 
and  Anem  (Anama),  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  vi.  73.  As 
belonging  to  the  third  class  we  can  only  fix  positively  on 
Beth-shan  (Beith-shan-ra)  and  Megiddo  (Maketu)  ;  but  Rab- 
bith,  Shunem,  Hapharaim,  and  Edrei,  which  are  also  con- 
tained in  Sheshonk's  list  of  his  conquests,  may  be  suspected 
of  having  retained  a  Canaanite  element  in  their  population. 

This  list  is  remarkable  both  for  what  it  contains  and  for 
what  it  omits.  The  omission  of  most  of  those  strongholds 
towards  the  south,  which  Rehoboam  fortified  against  Egypt, 
as  Hebron,  Lachish,  Azekah,  Mareshah,  Gath,  Adullam,  Beth- 
zur,  and  Tekoa  (2  Chron.  xi.  6-10),  is  perhaps  to  be  explained 
by  the  illegibility  of  twelve  names  at  the  beginning  of  the 
list,  where  these  cities,  as  the  first  attacked,  would  most 
probably  have  been  mentioned.  The  omission  of  Jerusalem 
might  also  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  way.  Or  the  fact 
may  have  been  that  Jerusalem  itself  was  not  taken.  Like 
Hezekiah,  on  the  first  invasion  of  Sennacherib  (2  Kings  xviii. 
13-16),  Rehoboam  may  have  surrendered  his  treasures  (1 
Kings  xiv.  26)  to  save  his  city  from  the  horrors  of  capture. 
This  was,  perhaps,  the  fulfilment  of  God's  promise  by  the 
mouth  of  Shemaiah — "  I  will  grant  them  some  deliverance, 
and  My  wrath  shall  not  be  poured  upon  Jerusalem  by  the 
hand  of  Shishak "  (2  Chron.  xii.  7).  The  Egyptian  mon- 
arch, on  receiving  the  treasures  and  tie  submission  of 
Rehoboam  (ibid.  ver.  8),  may  have  consented  to  respect  the 
city. 

But,  as  he  could  not  mention  Jersusalem  among  his  actual 
conquests,  he  supplied  the  place  where  the  name  would 
naturally  have  occurred  with  an  inscription  of  a  peculiar 
kind.  The  cartouche  borne  by  one  of  the  earlier  of  the  ideal 
figures  contains  the  epigraph  "  YUTeH  MALeK,"  in  which 
Egyptologists  generally  recognize  a  boast  either  that  the 
king  or  the  "  kingdom  of  Judah  "  made  submission  to  the 
conqueror.  "  Yuteh  Malek  "  is,  we  think,  most  properly  read 


NOTICES  IN  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  KINGS.        175 

as  "  Judah,  a  kingdom."  By  introducing  the  words,  Sheshonk 
wished  to  mark  that  besides  subduing  cities  and  districts 
and  tribes,  he  had  in  one  case  conquered  a  country  which 
was  under  the  government  of  a  king. 

The  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  towns  mentioned 
as  taken  are  in  the  territories  not  of  Rehoboam,  against 
whom  Sheshonk  "  went  up  "  (1  Kings  xiv.  25),  but  of  Jero- 
boam, his  protege  and  friend,  whom  his  expedition  was 
doubtless  intended  to  assist,  and  the  further  fact  that  these 
towns  were  chiefly  Levitical  or  Canaanite,  would  seem  to 
show  that  Jeroboam,  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  reign,  had 
considerable  opposition  to  encounter  within  the  limits  of  his 
own  kingdom.  The  disaffection  of  those  Levites  whose 
possessions  lay  within  his  territories  is  sufficiently  indicated 
in  Chronicles  by  the  account  which  is  there  given  (2  Chron. 
xi.  13,  14)  of  a  number  of  them  leaving  their  possessions 
and  "  resorting  to  Rehoboam  throughout  all  their  coasts," 
It  is  probable  that  such  as  remained  were  equally  hostile,  and 
that  Jeroboam  used  the  arms  of  his  ally  to  punish  them.  At 
the  same  time,  he  was  enabled  by  Egyptian  aid  to  reduce  a 
few  Canaanite  cities  which  still  maintained  their  indepen- 
dence, as  Gezer  had  done  until  conquered  by  the  Pharaoh 
who  gave  his  daughter  to  Solomon  (2  Kings  ix.  16). 

The  army  with  which  Sheshonk  invaded  Palestine  is 
more  numerous  than  we  should  have  anticipated,  and  some 
corruption  in  the  numbers  may  be  suspected.  It  is  com- 
posed, however,  exactly  as  the  monuments  would  have  led 
us  to  expect,  almost  wholly  of  foreign  mercenaries  (2  Chron. 
xii.  3),  Libyans,  Ethiopians,  and  others.  The  Egyptian  armies 
at  this  time  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of  Maxyes  and  other 
Berber  tribes  from  the  north-west,  and  of  Ethiopians  and 
negroes  from  the  south.*  Sheshonk,  who  was  himself  of 
foreign  descent,  placed  far  more  dependence  on  these  foreign 
troops  than  on  the  native  Egyptian  levies. 

"  Asa  had  an  army  of  men  that  bare  targets  and  spears.  .  .  .  And 
there  came  out  against  them  Zerah  the  Ethiopian  with  an  host  of  a 
thousand  thousand  and  three  hundred  chariots,  and  came  unto  Mare- 
shah.  Then  Asa  went  out  against  him,  and  they  set  the  battle  in  array 
in  the  valley  of  Zephathah  at  Mareshah.  And  Asa  cried  unto  the 
Lord,  .  .  .  and  the  Lord  smote  the  Ethiopians  before  Asa  and  before 
Judah,  and  the  Ethiopians  fled.  And  Asa  and  the  people  that  were 
with  him  pursued  them  unto  Gerar  ;  and  the  Ethiopians  were  over- 
thrown, that  they  could  not  recover  themselves." — 2  CHIK>N.  xiv.  9-l:J. 

•  Lenorrnaut,  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Anclenue,"  vol.  ii.,  pp  340,  341. 


176  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

The  Egyptians  do  not  record  unsuccessful  expeditions, 
and  thus  the  monuments  contain  no  mention  of  this  attack 
on  Asa.  It  appears  to  have  been  provoked  by  Asa's  rebellion, 
which  is  glanced  at  in  2  Chron.  xiv.  6.  The  Egyptian 
monarch  who  sent  or  led  the  expedition  was  probably  Osor- 
chon  (Uasarkan)  II.,  whose  name  the  Hebrews  contracted 
into  Zerach  .  He  was,  perhaps,  an  Ethiopian  on  his 

mother's  side.  Asa's  defeat  of  his  vast  army  is  the  most 
glorious  victory  ever  obtained  by  a  Israelite  monarch,  and 
secured  his  country  from  any  Egyptian  attack  for  abova 
three  centuries. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  KINGS.      177 


CHAPTER  XX. 

NOTICES   OF   EGYPT   IN    THE  SECOND    BOOK   OP   KINGS. 

"  In  the  twelfth  year  of  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  began  Hoshea,  the 
son  of  Elah,  to  reign  in  Samaria.  .  .  .  Against  him  came  up  Shal- 
maneser,  king  of  Assyria;  and  Hoshea  became  his  servant,  and  gave 
him  presents.  And  the  king  of  Assyria  found  conspiracy  in  Hoshea, 
for  lie  had  sent  messengers  to  So,  king  of  Egypt,  and  brought  no 
present  to  the  king  of  Assyria,  as  he  had  done  year  by  year;  therefore 
the  king  of  Assyria  shut  him  up,  and  bound  him  in  prison." — 2  KINGS 
xvii.  1-4. 

IT  is  not  very  easy  to  identify  the  "  king  of  Egypt  " 
here  mentioned,  as  one  with  whom  Hoshea,  the  son  of  Elah, 
sought  to  ally  himself,  with  any  of  the  known  Pharaohs. 
"  So  "  is  a  name  that  seems  at  first  sight  very  unlike  those 
borne  by  Egyptian  monarchs,  which  are  never  monosyllabic, 
and  in  no  case  end  in  the  letter  o.  A  reference  to  the  He- 
brew text  removes,  however,  much  of  the  difficulty,  since  the 
word  rendered  by  "  So  "  in  our  version  is  found  to  be  one 
of  three  letters,j^0all  of  which  may  be  consonants.  As  the 
Masoretic  pointing,  which  our  translators  followed,  is  of 
small  authority,  and  in  proper  names  of  scarcely  any 
authority  at  all,  we  are  entitled  to  give  to  each  of  the  three 
letters  its  consonant  force,  and,  supplying  short  vowels,  to 
render  the  Hebrew  JODby  "  Seven.  Now  "  Seven. "  is  very 
near  indeed  to  the  Manethonian  "  Sevech-us,"  whom  the 
Sebennytic  priest  makes  the  second  monarch  of  his  twenty- 
fifth  dynasty  ;  and  "  Sevech-us"  is  a  natural  Greek  equiva- 
lent of  the  Egyptian  "  Shebek  "  or  Shabak,"  a  name  borne 
by  a  well-known  Pharaoh  (the  first  king  of  the  same  dynasty), 
which  both  Herodotus  and  Manetho  render  by  "  Sabacos." 
It  has  been  generally  allowed  that  So  (or  Seveh)  must  re- 
present one  or  other  of  these,  but  critics  are  not  yet  agreed 
which  is  to  be  preferred  of  the  two.*  To  us  it  seems  that 
both  the  name  itself  and  the  necessities  of  the  chronology 

*  The  general  opinion  is  in  favor  of  Shabak;  but  some,  like  Hekek- 
yan  Bey  ("Chronology  of  Siriadic  Monuments,"  p.  100),  prefer 
Shabatok. 


178  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

point  to  the  first  king  rather  than  to  the  second  ;  and  wa 
consequently  regard  Hoshea  as  having  turned  in  his  distress 
to  seek  the  aid  of  the  monarch  whom  the  Egyptians  knew 
as  Shabak,  and  the  Greeks  as  Sabacos  of  Sabaco.* 

The  application  implies  an  entire  change  in  the  con- 
dition of  political  affairs  in  the  East,  and  in  the  relations  of 
state  to  state,  from  those  which  prevailed  when  Egyptian 
monarchs  last  figured  in  the  sacred  narrative,  two  hundred 
or  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier.  Then  Egypt  was  an 
aggressive  power,  bent  on  establishing  her  influence  over 
Palestine,  and  from  time  to  time  invading  Asia  with  large 
armies  in  the  hope  of  making  extensive  conquests. f  She 
was  the  chief  enemy  feared  by  the  petty  kingdoms  and 
loosely  aggregated  tribes  of  South-western  Asia,  the  only 
power  in  their  neighborhood  that  possessed  large  bodies  of 
disciplined  troops  and  an  instinct  of  self-aggrandizement. 
But  all  this  was  now  altered.  Egypt,  from  the  time  of 
Osarkon  II.,  had  steadily  declined  in  strength  ;  her  monarchs 
had  been  inactive  and  unwarlike,  her  policy  one  of  absten- 
tion from  all  enterprise.  The  inveterate  evil  of  distintegra- 
tion  with  which  her  ill-shaped  territory  was  naturally  threat- 
ened, and  which  had  from  time  to  time  shown  itself  in  her 
history,  once  more  made  its  appearance.  There  arose  a 
practice  of  giving  appanages  to  the  princes  of  the  royal 
house,  which  tended  to  become  hereditary,  and  trenched  on 
the  sovereignty  of  the  nominal  monarch.  "  Egypt  found 
herself  divided  into  a  certain  number  of  principalities,  some 
of  which  contained  only  a  few  towns,  while  others  extended 
over  several  adjacent  cantons.  Ere  long  the  chiefs  of  these 
principalities  were  bold  enough  to  reject  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Pharaoh  ;  relying  upon  their  bands  of  Libyan  mercenaries, 
they  not  only  usurped  the  functions  of  royalty,  but  even  the 
title  of  king,  while  the  legitimate  reigning  house,  relegated 
to  a  corner  of  the  Delta,  with  difficulty  preserved  a  remnant 
of  its  old  authority."  $  By  the  close  of  the  twenty-second 
dynasty,  "  Egypt  had  arrived  at  such  a  point  of  distintegra- 
tion  as  to  find  herself  portioned  out  among  nearly  twenty 
princes,  of  whom  four  at  least  assumed  the  cartouche  and 
the  other  emblems  of  royalty."  § 

*  Herod,  ii.  139;  Manetho  ap.  Syncell.  "  Chronograph.,"  p.  74,  B. 
t  Chron  xii.  3;  xiv.  9. 

J  Lenormant,  "  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancieune,"  vol.  ii.,  p  341. 
jj  Ibid.,  p.  342. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  KINGS.      179 

Meanwhile,  as  if  to  counterbalance  the  paralysis  and  clis> 
crepitude  of  the  Egyptian  state,  there  had  arisen  on  the 
other  side  of  Syria  and  Palestine  a  great  power,  continually 
increasing  in  strength,  with  the  same  instinct  of  aggrandize- 
ment which  had  formerly  possessed  Egypt,  and  with  even 
greater  aptitudes  for  war  and  conquest.  Assyria,  from 
about  B.  c.  880,  or  a  little  earlier,  began  to  press  westAvard 
upon  the  nations  dwelling  between  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Mediterranean,  and  to  threaten  them  with  subjugation. 
Asshur-nazir-pal  took  Carchemish,  conquered  Northern 
Syria,  and  forced  the  Phoenician  cities  to  make  their  sub- 
mission to  him.*  His  son,  Shalmaneser  II.,  engaged  in 
wars  with  Hamath,  Damascus,  and  Samaria  ;  defeated 
Benhadad,  Hazael,  and  Ahab  ;  and  made  Jehu  take  up  the 
position  of  a  tributary.!  The  successors  of  these  two  war- 
like princes  "fairly  maintained  the  empire  which  they  had 
received,"  $  and  even  pushed  their  expeditions  into  Philistia 
and  Edom.  After  a  lull  in  the  war-storm,  which  lasted  from 
about  B.  c.  780  to  750,  it  recommenced  with  increased  fury. 
Tiglath-Pileser  II.  crushed  the  Kingdom  of  Damascus,  and 
greatly  crippled  that  of  Samaria,  besides  which  he  reduced 
the  Philestines  and  several  tribes  of  Arabs.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Shalmaneser  IV.,  the  monarch  mentioned  in  2 
Kings  xvii.  3. 

The  situation  was  thus  the  following.  The  petty  states 
of  Palestine  and  Syria  had  been  suffering  from  the  attacks 
of  the  Assyrians  for  a  century  and  a  half.  On.e  after  another, 
the  greater  part  of  them  had  succumbed.  First  they  were 
made  tributaries;  then  they  were  absorbed  into  the  con- 
quering state  and  became  mere  provinces.  Hoshea  found 
his  kingdom  threatened  with  the  fate  which  had  befallen  so 
many  others.  He  had  the  courage  to  make  an  effort  to 
save  it.  Casting  an  anxious  glance  over  the  entire  political 
position,  he  thought  that  he  saw  in  the  Egyptian  monarch 
of  the  time  a  possible  deliverer.  For  there  had  been  quite 
recently  a  revolution  in  Egypt.  The  weak  and  indolent 
native  monarchs  had  been  thrust  aside,  and  superseded  by  a 
stronger  and  fiercer  foreign  race  from  the  neighboring 
Ethiopia.  "  So,"  or  Shabak,  was  one  of  these  foreigners, 
and  wielded  the  resources  of  two  countries,  his  adopted  and 

*  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  400. 

t  Ibid.,  pp.  102-106. 

I  Sayce  "  Ancient  Empires  of  the  East."  p.  375. 


180  EGJ-PT  AND  BABYLON. 

his  native  one.  It  was  reasonable  to  expect  that  he  would 
see  the  danger  which  menaced  Egypt  from  the  new  masters 
of  Western  Asia,  and  the  desirability  of  maintaining  the 
barrier  between  his  own  dominions  and  the  Assyrian,  which 
the  still  unconquered  tribes  and  kingdoms  of  Syria,  and  Pal- 
estine were  capable  of  constituting.  There  were  others 
besides  Samaria  ripe  for  revolt.*  It  would  have  been  a 
wise  policy  on  the  part  of  the  Egyptian  monarch  to  have 
fomented  the  disaffection,  and  supported  with  his  full  force 
the  movement  in  favor  of  independence  which  was  in  pro- 
gress. 

Hoshea's  "  messengers,"  under  these  circumstances, 
sought  the  court  of  Shabak,  which  appears  to  have  been 
fixed  at  Memphis,  in  Lower  Egypt.f  It  would  seem  that 
they  were  received  with  favor,  and  that  material  aid  was 
promised,  since  Hoshea  almost  immediately  broke  into  open 
revolt  by  witholding  the  tribute  due  to  his  Assyrian  suzerain. 
"With  the  utmost  promptness  Shalmaneser  marched  against 
him,  seized  his  person,  and  carried  him  off  to  Nineveh. 
Shabak  made  no  effort  in  his  defence.  The  first  attempt 
of  the  people  of  God  to  "  call  to  Egypt  "  (Hos.  vii.  11)  thus 
proved  a  most  disastrous  failure :  the  king,  who  had  "  trusted 
upon  the  staff  of  the  bruised  reed  "  (2  Kings  xviii.  21),  was 
ruined  by  his  misplaced  confidence,  and  within  a  few  years 
his  capital  was  taken  (ibid.  ver.  6),  and  his  people  carried 
into  captivity  (ibid). 

"  And  Rabshskeh  said.  .  .  .  Speak  ye  now  to  Hezekiah,  Thus 
saitli  the  great  king,  the  king  of  Assyria.  What  confidence  is  this 
wherein  thou  trustest  ?  Thou  sayest — but  they  are  but  vain  words — 
I  have  counsel  and  strength  for  the  war.  Now  on  whom  dost  thou 
trust,  that  thou  rebellest  against  me  ?  Now,  behold,  thou  trustest 
upon  the  staff  of  this  bruised  reed,  even  upon  Egypt,  on  which  if  a 
man  lean,  it  will  go  into  his  hand  and  pierce  it  :  so  is  Pharaoh,  king 
of  Egypt  unto  all  that  trust  on  him  "  (ch.  xviii.  19-21 ). 

"When  he"  (i.e.  Sennacherib)  "heard  say  of  Tirhakah,  king  of 
Ethiopia,  Behold,  he  is  come  out  to  fight  against  thee,  lie  sent  messen- 
gers again  to  Hezekiah,  saying,  Let  not  thy  God  in  whom  thou 
trustest  deceive  thee,  saying.  Jerusalem  shall  not  be  delivered  into 
the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria"  (ibid.,  vers.  9,  10). 

Another  act  in  the  drama  has  been  opened.     The  king- 

*  As  Tyre,  which  actually  revolted  a  year  or  two  later;  and 
Hamath,  Arpad,  Simyra,  and  Damascus,  which  revolted  fi'»m  Sargou 
in  u.c.  721. 

t  Kawlinsoa,  "  History  of  Ancient  Egypt"  voL  ii.,  p.  440. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  KINGS.       181 

dom  of  Samaria  having  been  conquered  and  absorbed  by  the 
terrible  Assyrians,  it  is  Judaea's  turn  to  be  threatened  with 
a  similiar  fate.  Not  that  she  is  now  threatened  for  the  first 
time.  Before  Samaria  had  fallen,  Ahaz,  the  father  of 
Hezekiah,  placed  himself  voluntarily  under  the  Assyrian 
suzerainty,  consenting  to  become  the  vassal  of  Tiglath-Pileser 
('2  Kings  xvi.  7-10).  Hezekiah  threw  off  the  Assyrian  yoke 
(ch.  xviii.  7)  ;  but  it  was  reimposed  upon  him  first,  as  it 
would  seem,  by  Sargon,*  and  again  (about  B.  c.  701)  by 
Sennacherib  (ibid.,  vers.  13-16).  The  Jewish  monarch  was, 
however,  at  no  time  a  submissive  or  willing  vassal ;  and  he 
had  no  sooner  bowed  his  neck  to  Sennacherib's  yoke,  than  he 
began  to  make  preparations  for  recovering  his  independence. 
Like  his  brother  monarch  in  Samaria,  he  thought  that  he 
saw  in  Egypt  his  best  ally  and  protector.  We  may  gather 
from  Sennacherib's  reproaches  in  this  chapter,  as  well  as 
from  passages  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  that  a  formal 
embassy  was  sent  either  to  Tirhakah  at  Xapata,  or  to  his 
representative  in  Lower  Egypt,  with  an  offer  of  alliance  and 
a  request  for  armed  assistance,  especially  chariots  and  horse- 
men (ibid.,  vers.  23.  24).  As  in  the  former  instance,  the 
answer  received  was  favorable.  Tirhakah  was  an  enterpris- 
ing monarch  who  left  a  name  behind  him  which  marks  him 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  Egypt's  later  kings. f  He  saw  the 
wisdom  of  upholding  the  independence  of  Judaea,  and  ac- 
cepting the  alliance  proffered  by  Hezekiah,  probably  gave 
an  assurance  of  help,  should  Sennacherib  attempt  to  punish 
his  revolted  vassal. 

The  occasion  for  fulfilling  his  promise  soon  arrived. 
Sennacherib,  in  B.  c.  700  or  699,  once  more  proceeded  into 
Palestine,!  and,  sending  a  general  to  frighten  Hezekiah  into 
submission  (ibid.,  ver.  17),  himself  marched  on  towards  the 
south.  He  had  received  information  of  the  alliance  that 
had  been  concluded  between  Judaea  and  Egypt  (vers.  21, 
24),  and  regarding  Tirhskah  as  his  chief  enemy,  pressed 
forward  to  encounter  his  troops.  Tirhakah,  on  his  part,  re- 

*  Sargon  claims  in  his  inscriptions  to  have  conquered  Jerusalem 
(see  Mr.  Cheyne's  "  Isaiah,"  vol.  i.,p.  69).  Various  passages  of  Isaiah 
are  thought  to  have  reference  to  this  conquest. 

t  Megasthenes,  Fr.  80. 

J  M.  Lenonnant  considers  that  the  embassy  of  Rahshakeh  and  de- 
struction of  Sennacherib's  host  fell  in  the  same  year  as  his  first  inva- 
sion ("Manwl  d'Histoire  Ancienne."  vol.  ii..  p.  361);  but  it  seems  to 
me  more  probable  that  they  were  separated  by  a  short  interval. 


182  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

retained  faithful  to  his  ally,  and  put  his  army  in  motion  to 
meet  Sennacherib  (ch.  xix.  9). 

This  boldness  is  quite  in  accordance  with  Tirhakah's 
character.  He  was  an  enterprising  prince,  engaged  in  many 
wars,  and  a  determined  opponent  of  the  Assyrians.  His 
name  is  read  on  the  Egyptian  monuments  as  Tahark  or 
Tahrak  ;  and  his  face,  which  appears  on  them,  is  expressive 
of  strong  determination.  The  Assyrian  inscriptions  tell  us 
that,  in  the  later  part  of  his  life,  he  caried  on  a  war  for 
many  years  with  Esar-haddon  and  his  son,  Asshur-bani-pal.* 
If  his  star  ultimately  paled  before  that  of  the  latter,  it  was 
not  from  any  lack  of  courage,  or  resolution,  or  good  faith  on 
his  part.  He  struggled  gallantly  against  the  Assyrian  power 
for  above  thirty  years,  was  never  wanting  to  his  confederates 
and,  if  he  did  not  quite  deserve  the  high  eulogies  of  the 
Greeks,  was  at  any  rate,  among  the  most  distinguished 
monarchs  of  his  race  and  period. 

"  In  his  "  (Josiah's)  "  days  of  Pharaoh-Nechoh,  king  of  Egypt, 
went  up  against  the  king  of  Assyria  to  the  river  Euphrates;  and  King 
Josiah  went  against  him;  and  he  slew  hhu  at  Megiddo,  when  he  had 
seen  him.  .  .  .  And  the  people  of  the  land  took  Jehoahaz,  the  son  of 
Josiah,  and  anointed  him,  and  made  him  king  in  his  father's  stead.  .  .  . 
And  Pharaoh-Nechoh  put  him  in  bands  at  Kiblah,  in  the  land  of 
Hamath,  that  he  might  not  reign  in  Jerusalem,  and  put  the  land  to 
a  tribute  of  an  hundred  talents  of  silver  and  a  talent  of  gold.  And 
Pharaoh-Nechoh  made  Eliakirn,  the  son  of  Josiah,  king  in  the  room 
of  Josiah  his  father,  and  turned  his  name  to  Jehoiakim,  and  took 
Jehoahaz  away;  and  he  came  to  Egypt,  and  died  there  "  (ch.  xxiii. 


An  interval  of  ninety  years  separates  this  notice  from  the 
one  last  considered.  The  position  of  affairs  is  onec  more  com- 
pletely changed.  Although  the  present  passage,  taken  by 
itself,  does  not  give  any  indication  of  what  had  occurred, 
it  is  quite  certain  that,  in  the  interval  between  Tirhakah's 
war  with  Sennacherib  and  "  Pharaoh-Necho's  "  invasion  of 
Palestine,  the  empire  of  Assyria  had  come  to  an  end. 
Necho  was  on  his  way  "  to  fight  against  Carchemish  by 
Euphrates  "  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  20)  with  "  the  house  wherewith 
he  had  war  "  (ibid.)  ;  and  that  house  was  not  the  old  one  of 
the  Sargonidte,  wherewith  Tirhakah  had  contended,  but  a 
new  "  house  "  which  had  recently  come  into  power,  and 
which  held  its  court,  not  at  Nineveh,  but  at  Babylon  (Isa, 

"*  G.  Smith,  "  History  of  Asshur-bani-pal,"  pp.  15-47. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  KINGS.      183 

xlvi.  2).  The  exact  year  of  the  fall  of  Assyria  is  indeed  un- 
certain ;  *  but  all  authorities  agree  that  it  had  taken  place 
before  the  date  of  Necho's  expedition,  which  was  in  B.  c. 
G08.  By  "  king  of  Assyria,"  in  ver.  29,  we  must  therefore 
understand  king  of  Babylon,  just  as  in  Ezra  vi.  22  we  must 
understand  by  "  king  of  Assyria "  king  of  Persia.  The 
Babylonian  monarch,  Nabopolassar,  had  taken  a  share  in  the 
great  war  by  which  the  empire  of  the  Assyrians  was  brought 
to  an  end,f  and  had  succeeded  to  Assyria's  right  in  Western 
Mesopotamia,  Syria,  and  Palestine.  He  was  probably 
regarded  by  Josiah  as  his  suzerain,  and  therefore  entitled 
to  such  help  as  he  could  render  him. 

While  these  changes  had  taken  place  in  Asia,  in  Africa 
also  the  condition  of  affairs  was  very  much  altered.  The 
Ethiopian  dynasty,  after  its  long  struggle  against  Assyria, 
had  been  forced  to  yield,  had  given  up  the  contest,  and  re- 
tired from  Egypt  altogether.!  Assyria  had  for  a  time 
held  Egypt  under  her  sway,  and  acting  in  the  spirit  of  the 
maxim,  "  Divide  et  impera,"  had  split  up  the  country  among 
no  fewer  than  twenty,  princes.  Of  these  some  had  been 
Assyrians,  but  the  greater  part  natives.  A  Necho  (Xeku), 
the  grandfather  of  the  antagonist  of  Josiah,  had  held  the 
first  place  among  the  twenty,  being  assigned  the  governments 
of  Memphis  and  Sais,  together  with  almost  the  whole  of  the 
Western  Delta.  He  had  been  succeeded  after  a  time  by  his 
son  Psamatik,  the  Psammetichus  of  the  Greeks,  who  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  growing  weakness  of  Assyria  during 
the  later  half  of  the  seventh  century  to  raise  the  standard 
of  revolt,  and  had  succeeded,  by  the  assistance  of  Gyges, 
king  of  Lydia,  and  of  numerous  Greek  and  Carian  merce- 
naries, in  establishing  his  own  independence  and  uniting  all 
Egypt  under  his  sway.  A  period  of  great  prosperity  had 
then  set  in.  Psamatik  I.,  a  prudent,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  brave  and  warlike,  prince,  raised  Egypt  from  a  state  of 
extreme  depression  to  a  height  which  she  had  only  previously 
reached  under  the  Osirtasens,  the  Thothmeses,  and  the  Kames- 
sides.  During  the  rapid  decline  and  decay  of  Assyrian 
power  which  followed  upon  the  death  of  Asshur-bani-pal 
(B.  c.  626),  he  extended  his  sway  over  Philistia  and  Phoe- 
nicia, thus  resuming  the  policy  of  aggression  upon  Asia 

*  The  opinion  of  scholars  varies  between  B.  c.  625  and  B.  c.  610. 

t  '•  Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.  pp.  499,  500. 

J  Leuorniant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Aucienne,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  377,  37& 


184  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

which  had  been  laid  aside,  at  any  rate  from  the  time  of 
Sheshonk.  The  opportunity  seemed  good  for  re-establish- 
ing Egyptain  influence  in  this  quarter,  now  that  Assyria  was 
approaching  her  end,  and  Babylon  not  yet  established  as  her 
successor. 

The  "  Pharaoh-Necho  "  of  the  present  notice  is  undoubt- 
edly Neku  II.,  the  son  and  successor  of  Psamatik  I.  and  the 
grandson  of  the  first  Neku.  He  succeeded  his  father  in  B.  o. 
611  or  610,  and  held  the  throne  till  B.  c.  595  or  594.  He 
left  behind  him  a  high  character  for  courage  and  enterprise. 
"  We  must  see  in  him,"  says  Dr.  "Wiedeniann,*  "  according 
to  the  narratives  of  the  Greek  historians,  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  and  excellent  sovereigns  of  all  Egyptian  an- 
tiquity." After  two  or  three  years  of  preparation  for  war, 
he  led  his  forces  into  Palestine  by  the  coast  road  commonly 
followed  by  his  predecessors,  through  Philistia  and  Sharon 
to  Megiddo,  on  the  high  ground  separating  the  plain  of 
Sharon  from  that  of  Esdraelon.  Here,  on  a  battle-field 
celebrated  alike  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  he  was  con- 
fronted by  Josiah,  the  Jewish  monarch,  who  had  recently 
united  under  his  sway  the  greater  portion  of  the  two  king- 
doms of  Israel  and  Judah.f  Necho,  according  to  the  author 
of  Chronicles,  endeavored  to  avoid  engaging  his  troops,  first 
by  assuring  him  that  his  quarrel  was  not  with  him,  but  with 
the  royal  house  of  Babylon  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  21),  and  then 
by  urging  that  he  had  received  a  Divine  commission  to  attack 
his  enemy.  Assertions  of  this  kind  were  probably  not  un- 
usual in  the  mouths  of  Egyptian  princes,  who  regarded  them- 
selves as  the  favorites  of  Heaven,  sons  of  the  sun,  and  under 
constant  Divine  protection.  We  have  an  example  in  Piankhi, 
one  of  the  Ethiopian  monarchs  of  Egypt,  who,  when  march- 
ing against  the  native  princes  that  had  revolted  from  him, 
declares,  $  "  I  am  born  of  the  loins,  created  from  the  egg,  of 
the  Deity.  ...  I  have  not  acted  without  His  knowing  :  lie 
ordained  that  I  should  [so]  act."  Neither  argument  had 
any  effect  on  the  resolution  of  the  Jewish  king  ;  he  prob- 
ably deemed  himself  bound,  as  faithful  vassal,  to  bar  the 
way  of  his  suzerain's  enemy  ;  and  Necho,  finding  him  thus 
resolved,  was  compelled  to  engaged  his  forces.  The  battle, 

*"  Gesbichte  JEgyptens  von  Psammetich  I.  bis  auf  Alexander  den 
Grossen."  p.  147. 

t  2  Kings  xxiii.  l.r>-19;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  6-9. 
J  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  91,  1.  69. 


NOTICES  IN  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  KINGS.      185 

commonly  known  as  that  of  Megiddo,  seems  to  be  men- 
tioned by  Herodotus*  as  the  battle  of  Magdolurn,  wherein  he 
says  that  Neko  (Xecho)  defeated  the  "  Palestinian  Syrians," 
which  appears  to  be  his  name  for  the  Jews.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  chief  adversaries  of  the  Jews  on  this 
occasion  were  the  Greek  and  Carian  mercenaries  in  the 
Egyptian  service,  since  Necho  was  so  pleased  at  their  be- 
havior that  he  sent  the  arms  which  he  had  worn  in  the  battle 
as  an  offering  to  a  Greek  temple  in  Asia  Minor. 

The  success  of  Necho  in  detaching  Syria  from  the 
Babylonian  empire,  and  attaching  it  to  his  own,  implied 
in  the  narrative  of  Kings,  and  in  Jer.  xlvi.  2,  is  alluded  to 
in  a  fragment  of  Berosus.f  Berosus,  as  a  Babylonian, 
ignores  Necho's  independent  position,  and  speaks  of  him  as 
the  "  satrap  "  of  the  western  provinces,  who  had  caused 
them  to  "  revolt."  He  regards  the  "  revolt  "  as  extending 
to  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Phoenicia,  and  as  lasting  until,  in  B.  c. 
605,  Nebuchadnezzar  was  sent  by  his  father  to  re-establish 
the  dominion  of  Babylon  in  the  far  west. 

*  Herod,  ii.  159. 

t  Beros.  in  the  "  Frugm.  Hist.  Gr."  of  C.  Muller,  vol.  ii.  Fr.  14. 


186  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  ISAIAH. 

"  The  burden  of  Egypt.  Behold,  the  Lord  rideth  upon  a  swift 
cloud,  and  shall  come  into  Egypt;  and  the  idols  of  Egypt  shall  be 
moved  at  His  presence,  and  the  heart  of  Egypt  shall  melt  in  the  midst 
of  it.  And  I  will  set  the  Egyptians  against  the  Egyptians;  and  they 
shall  fight  every  one  against  his  brother,  and  every  one  against  hia 
neighbor;  city  against  city,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom.  And  the 
spirit  of  Egypt  shall  fail  in  the  midst  thereof:  and  they  shall  seek  to 
the  idols,  and  to  the  charmers,  and  to  them  that  have  familiar  spirits, 
and  to  the  wizards.  And  the  Egyptians  will  I  give  over  into  the  hands 
of  a  cruel  lord;  and  a  fierce  king  shall  rule  over  them,  saith  the  Lord, 
the  Lord  of  hosts Surely  the  prince s  of  Zoan  are  fools ;  the  coun- 
sel of  the  wise  counsellors  of  Pharaoh  is  become  brutish ;  how  say  ye 
unto  Pharaoh,  I  am  the  son  of  the  wise,  the  son  of  ancient  kings  ? 
Where  are  they  ?  where  are  thy  wise  men  ?  and  let  them  tell  thee 
now,  and  let  them  know  what  the  Lord  hath  purposed  upon  Egypt. 
The  princes  of  Zoan  are  become  fools,  the  princes  of  Noph  are  de- 
ceived; they  have  also  seduced  Egypt,  even  they  that  are  the  stay  of 
the  tribes  thereof." — ISA.  xix.  1-13. 

IT  was  a  principal  part  of  the  mission  of  Isaiah  during 
the  reign  of  Hezekiah  to  dissuade  the  Jews  from  placing 
their  dependence  on  Egypt  in  the  struggle  wherein  they 
were  engaged,  with  the  prophet's  entire  consent  and  appro- 
val, against  the  Assyrians.  Egypt,  it  was  revealed  to  him, 
was  no  sure  stay,  no  trustworthy  ally,  no  powerful  protector; 
she  would  fail  in  time  of  need,  either  unwilling  or  unable 
to  give  effectual  help.  (See  ch.  xx.  6  ;  xxx.  3, 7  ;  xxxi.  1-3). 
Nor  was  this  the  worst.  So  long  as  king  and  people  put 
their  trust  in  an  "  arm  of  flesh,"  and  did  not  rely  upon  God, 
God's  arm  was  straitened,  and  he  could  not  work  the  mirac- 
ulous deliverance,  which  he  was  prepared  to  work,  'be- 
cause of  their  unbelief."  Isaiah's  prophecies  with  respect 
to  Egypt  are  thus,  almost  entirely,  depreciatory  and  denun- 
ciatory. He  is  bent  on  showing  that  she  is  a  power  on 
whom  no  dependence  can  be  wisely  placed,  in  the  hope  that 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH.  187 

he   may  thereby  prevent   Hezekiah   and   his  princes   from 
contracting  any  alliance  with  the  Egyptian  monarch. 

In  this  first  prophecy  he  announces  two  calamities  as 
about  to  befall  Egypt,  either  of  which  is  sufficient  to  render 
her  an  utterly  worthless  ally.  The  fii-st  of  these  calamities 
is  civil  war.  The  Egyptians  are  about  to  "fight  every  one 
against  his  brother,  and  every  one  against  his  neighbor: 
city  against  city,  arid  kingdom  against  kingdom."  It  is  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  this  prophecy  to  find,  as  we  do, 
from  an  inscription  of  Piankhi-Merammon,*  that  about  B.  c. 
735  Egypt  was  divided  up  among  no  fewer  than  twenty- 
two  princes,  of  whom  four  bore  the  title  of  "  king,"  and 
that  a  civil  war  raged  among  them  for  some  considerable 
time.  Tafnekht,  prince  of  Sais,  began  the  disturbance  by  a 
series  of  skilfully  arranged  encroachments  upon  his  neigh- 
bors. During  several  years  he  laid  siege  successively  to  the 
fortresses  which  were  held  by  the  independent  military 
chiefs  and  the  petty  princes  of  the  western  portion  of  Lower 
Egypt.  Once  master  of  all  the  territory  to  the  west  of  the 
middle  branch  of  the  Nile,  Tafnekht,  respecting  the  domin- 
ion of  the  dynasty  of  Tanis  over  the  Eastern  Delta,  pro- 
ceeded to  mount  the  stream,  in  order  to  make  himself  master 
of  Central  Egypt,  and  even  with  the  intention  of  essaying 
the  conquest  of  Upper  Egypt,  which  was  in  the  possession 
of  the  Ethiopian  kings  of  Napata  at  this  period.  The 
stronghold  of  Meri-tum,  now  Meydoum,  the  district  of  Lake 
Mceris,  the  city  of  Heracleopolis,  with  its  king  Pefaabast,  and 
that  of  Hermopolis,  with  its  king  Osorkon,  recognized  his 
authority  as  sovereign.  He  also  made  himself  master  of 
Aphroditopolis,  and,  pursuing  his  career  of  success,  was  in 
course  of  conquering  the  canton  of  Ouab,  with  its  capital, 
Pa-matsets,  when  the  chiefs  of  the  upper  and  lower  country 
who  had  not  yet  bowed  their  heads  to  his  yoke  invoked  the 
aid  of  the  Ethiopian  monarch."  f  Piankhi  gladly  responded 
to  the  call,  and  in  the  course  of  one  or  two  campaigns  suc- 
ceeded in  despoiling  Tafnekht  of  all  his  conquests,  and  in 
restoring  Egypt  to  tranquility.  He  then  reigned  for  some 
years  in  peace  ;  but  at  his  death  disturbances  broke  out 
afresh.  Bocchoris,  or  Bok-en-ranf,  who  succeeded  Tafnekht 
at  Sais,  had  a  reign  as  troubled  as  his  predecessor's.  It 

"See  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  81-104;  and  compare 
Brugsch,  "  Geschichte  ^Egyptens,"  pp. '682-707. 

t  Lenormant,  *'  Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne,"  vol.  ii.  p.  344. 


188  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

was,  says  M.  Lenormant,*  "  an  incessant  struggle  against  the 
petty  princes,  a  continuous  series  of  wars,  first  for  the  sub- 
jection of  the  Delta  and  Central  Egypt,  nay,  even  tempo- 
rarily of  the  Thebaid,  and  then  for  the  preservation  of  his 
conquests,  and  the  maintenance  with  much  difficulty  of  a 
precarious  dominion."  In  the  end  Bocchoris  succumbed  to 
Shabak,  the  successor  of  Piankhi,  who  punished  his  rebel- 
lion, as  he  considered  it,  by  burning  him  alive. f  A  third 
occasion  of  civil  war,  belonging  to  a  somewhat  later  date, 
is  mentioned  by  Herodotus.  Psammetichus,  the  founder  oi 
the  twenty-sixth  dynasty,  had  to  contend,  according  to  this 
author,  t  with  eleven  of  his  brother  princes  before  he  suc- 
ceeded in  uniting  all  Egypt  under  his  sceptre.  Briefly,  it 
may  be  said  that  Egypt  from  about  B.  c.  735  to  B.  c.  650, 
suffered  from  a  continued  series  of  civil  wars,  which  ren- 
dered her  exceptionally  weak,  and  caused  her  to  fall  an 
easy  prey  alternately  to  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Assyrians. 

The  other  calamity  prophesied  is  that  of  conquest  by  a 
foreign  king  of  a  fierce  and  cruel  temper.  "  The  Egyptians 
will  I  give  over  into  the  hands  of  a  cruel  lord  ;  and  a  fierce 
king  shall  rule  over  them,  saith  the  Lord  "  (ver.  4).  The 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  records  show  that,  between  the 
years  B.  c.  750  and  B.  c.  650,  Egypt  was  conquered  at  least 
five  times,  and  was  ruled  by  at  least  eight  foreign  monarchs. 
The  first  conquest — that  of  Piankhi  Merammon — was  cer- 
tainly not  a  subjection  to  a  "  fierce  and  cruel  lord,"  for 
Piankhi  was  a  remarkably  mild  and  clement  prince,  who 
did  not  even  punish  rebellion  with  any  severity.§  Shabak, 
the  next  conqueror  after  Piankhi,  was  cruel ;  but  he  can 
scarcely  be  the  monarch  intended,  since  he  was  accepted  as 
a  legitimate  Pharaoh  ;  the  "  princes  of  Zoan  and  Noph  " 
were  his  counselors ;  and,  if  the  prophecy  touches  him  at  all 
it  is  as  the  deceived  and  misled  Pharaoh  of  ver.  11,  not  as 
the  "fierce  king  "of  ver.  4.  The  same  may  be  said  of  his 
successors,  Shabatok  and  Tirhakah,  who  were  closely  con- 
nected with  Noph  (Xapata),  and  were  recognized  as 
legitimate  Pharaohs.  It  is  to  an  Assyrian,  not  to  an  Ethio- 
pian, conqueror  that  the  prophecy  must  refer,  and  hence 
doubtless  the  introduction  of  Assyria  by  name  into  the  later 

•  Lenormant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Anclenne,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  349. 

t  Manetho  ap.  Syncell.,  ''Chronograph,"  p.  74,  B. 

I  Herod.,  ii.  152. 

§  Kacwlinson,  "  History  of  Ancient  Egypt,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  443. 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH.  189 

part  of  the  prophecy,  which  in  a  certain  sense  balances  the 
earlier  vers.  23-25).  Two  successive  Assyrian  monarchs 
conquered  Egypt,  Esar-haddon  and  Asshur-bani-pal.  Either 
of  the  two  would  correspond  well  to  the  description  of  the 
"fierce  king  and  cruel  lord."  Esar-haddon,  who  had  Manas- 
seh  brought  bafore  him  with  a  hook  passed  through  his  jaws 
(2  Chron.  xxxiii.  11), who  broke  up  Egypt  into  twenty  gov- 
ernments and  changed  the  names  of  the  towns,*  who  usually 
executed  rebels,  and  is  said  by  his  son  to  have  appointed 
governors  over  the  various  provinces  of  Egypt  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  slaying  and  plundering  its  people,  f  was 
certainly  a  severe  and  harsh  monarch,  who  might  well 
answer  to  the  description  of  Isaiah ;  and  Asshur-bani-pal, 
his  successor,  who  riveted  the  Assyrian  yoke  on  the  reluc- 
tant country,  was  a  yet  more  cruel  and  relentless  tyrant. 
Asshur-bani-pal  burnt  alive  his  own  brother,  Saul-Mugina, 
caused  several  of  his  prisoners  to  be  chained  and  flayed,  tore 
but  the  tongues  of  others  by  the  roots,  punished  many  by 
mutilation,  and  was  altogether  the  most  cruel  and  blood- 
thirsty of  all  the  Assyrian  monarchs  of  whom  any  record 
has  come  down  to  us.J  It  is  probably  his  conquest  of  Egypt 
in  B.  c.  668-666  which  Isaiah  s  prophecy  announces,  though 
it  is  quite  possible  that  Isaiah  may  have  himself  expected 
an  earlier  accomplishment  of  the  prediction.  § 

"  Iu  the  year  that  Tartan  came  unto  Ashdod,  when  Sargon,  the 
king  of  Assyria,  sent  him,  and  fought  against  Ashdod,  and  took  it,  at 
the  same  time  spake  the  Lord  by  Isaiah,  the  son  of  Amoz,  saying,  Go 
and  loose  the  sackcloth  from  off  thy  loins,  and  put  off  thy  shoe  from 
thy  foot.  And  he  did  so,  walking  naked  and  barefoot,  and  the  Lord 
sa.d,  Like  as  my  servant  Isaiah  hath  walked  naked  and  barefoot  three 
years  for  a  sign  and  wonder  upon  Egypt  and  upon  Ethiopia,  so  shall 
the  king  of  Assyria  lead  away  the  Egyptians  prisoners,  And  the  Ethio- 
pians captives,  young  and  old,  naked  and  barefoot,  even  with  their 
buttocks  uncovered,  to  the  shame  of  Egypt.  And  they  shall  be  afraid 
and  ashamed  of  Ethiopia  their  expectation,  and  of  Egypt  their  glory. 
And  the  inhabitants  of  this  isle  shall  say  in  that  day,  Behold,  such  is 
our  expectation,  whither  we  flee  for  help  to  be  delivered  from  the  king 
of  Assyria:  and  how  shall  we  escape  ?" — ISA.  xx.  l-<5. 

The  general  warning  contained  in  Isaiah's  "burden  of 
Egypt "  failed  altogether  of  its  intended  effect.     In  Israel 

*  G.  Smith,  "  History  of  Asshur-bani-pal,"  pp.  34,  35. 
t  G.  Smith,  "  History  of  Asshur-bani-pal,"  p.  16. 
t  See  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  480. 
§  As  Mr.  Cheyne  supposes:  "  Comment  on  Isaiah,"  voL  i.,  pp.  112, 
113. 


190  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Hoshea,  about  B.  c.  724,  entered  intb  alliance  with  Shabefc 
(So),  and  thereby  provoked  the  ruin  which  fell  both  on  him- 
self and  his  country.  The  lesson  was  lost  on  Hezekiah 
and  his  counselors,  who,  as  the  attitude  of  the  Assyrians 
became  more  and  more  threatening,  inclined  more  and  more 
to  follow  Hoshea's  example  and  place  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  Egypt.  Egypt  was  at  this  time,  as  already 
explained,  closely  connected  with  Ethiopia,  which  under  Pian- 
khi,  Shabak,  Shabatok,  and  Tirhakah,  exercised  the  rights  of 
a  suzerain  power,  permitting,  however,  to  certain  native  Egyp- 
tian princes  a  delegated  sovereignty.  Hence  the  close  con- 
nection in  which  we  find  Ethiopia  and  Egypt  placed  in  the 
present  prophecy.  In  the  year  that  the  Assyrian  Tartan, 
or  commander-in-chief,  took  Ashdod,  having  been  assigned 
the  task  by  Sargon,  king  of  Assyria,  the  successor  of  Shal- 
maneser  IV.,  and  father  of  Sennacherib — probably  the  year 
B.  c.  714 — Isaiah  was  directed  to  renew  his  warning  against 
trust  in  these  African  powers.  They  had  become  the 
"  glory  "  and  the  "  expectation  "  of  his  countrymen,  whither 
they  were  ready  to  "flee  for  help"  (vers.  5,  6).  In  orderto 
impress  the  Jews  with  the  folly  of  their  vain  hopes,  Isaiah 
was  instructed  to  announce  a  coming  victory  of  Assyria 
over  combined  Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  the  result  of  which 
would  be  a  great  removal  of  captives,  belonging  to  both 
nations,  from  the  banks  of  the  Nile  to  those  of  the  Tigris, 
to  the  great  "  shame  "  of  the  conquered  and  the  great  glory 
of  the  conquerors.  To  arrest  the  attention  of  his  nation, 
he  was  to  take  the  garb  of  a  prisoner  himself,  and  to  go 
barefoot  and  "  naked."  i.  e.,  clad  in  a  single  scant  tunic,  for 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  his  prophecy  would 
be  accomplished.  The  prophecy  seems  to  have  had  its  first 
accomplishment  when,  in  B.  c.  711,  Ashdod  revolted  from 
Assyria,  under  promise  of  support  from  the  Ethiopian 
Pharaoh  of  the  period,  and  was  captured,  with  its  garrison, 
which  is  likely  to  have  consisted  in  part  of  Egyptians  and 
Ethiopians.  We  are  expressly  told  that  the  prisoners  were 
on  this  occasion  transported  into  Assyria,  their  place  being 
supplied  by  captives  taken  in  some  of  Sargon's  eastern 
wars.* 

Ten  years  later,  in  the  reign  of  Sennacherib,  there  was 
another  occasion  of  collision  between  Assyria  and  Egypt  in 

•  "Ancient  Monarchies,"  vol.  i.,  p.  440. 


NOTICES  IN  ISAIAH.  ]t,( 

a  war  provoked  by  the  revolt  of  Ekron.  In  the  battle  of 
Eltekeh  (B.  c.  701)  both  Ethiopians  and  Egyptians  are  ex- 
pressly declared  to  have  been  engaged,  and  many  prisoners 
of  both  nations  to  have  been  taken.*  These  were,  no  doubt, 
carried  off  by  the  conqueror. 

Later,  in  the  wars  of  Esar-haddon  and  Asshur-bani-pal 
with  Tirhakah,  there  must  have  been  numerous  occasions 
of  a  similar  kind.t  The  entire  course  of  the  struggle  be- 
tween Assyria  on  the  one  hand  and  Ethiopia  and  Egypt  on 
the  other  was  adverse  to  the  latter  peoples  until  the  strength 
of  Assyria  collapsed  at  home,  and  she  (about  B.  c.  650)  with- 
drew her  forces  from  Egypt  to  the  defence  of  her  own 
territory. 

"  Woe  to  the  rebellious  children,  saith  the  Lord,  that  take  counsel, 
but  not  of  Me;  and  that  cover  with  a  covering,  but  not  of  My  Spirit, 
that  they  may  add  sin  to  sin,  that  walk  to  go  down  into  Egypt,  and 
have  not  asked  at  My  mouth,  to  strengthen  themselves  in  the  strength 
of  Pharaoh,  and  to  trust  in  the  shadow  of  Egypt  !  Therefore  shall  the 
strength  of  Pharaoh  be  your  shame,  and  the  trust  in  the  shadow  of 
Egypt  your  confusion.  For  his  princes  were  at  Zoan,  and  his  ambas- 
sadors came  to  Hanes.  They  were  all  ashamed  of  a  people  that  could 
not  profit  them,  nor  be  a  help  nor  profit,  but  a  shame  and  also  a  re- 
proach. The  burden  of  the  beasts  of  the  south  :  into  the  land  of 
trouble  and  anguish,  from  whence  come  the  young  and  old  lion,  the 
viper  and  fiery  flying  serpent,  they  will  carry  their  riches  upon  the 
shoulders  of  young  asses,  and  their  treasures  upon  the  bunches  of 
camels,  to  a  people  that  shall  not  profit  them.  For  the  Egyptians 
shall  help  in  vain,  and  to  no  purpose  ;  therefore  have  I  cried  concern- 
ing this,  Their  strength  is  to  sit  still." — ISA.  xxx.  1-7. 

"  Woe  to  them  that  go  down  to  Egypt  for  help  ;  and  stay  on 
horses,  and  trust  in  chariots,  because  they  are  many;  and  in  horse- 
men, because  they  are  very  strong;  but  they  look  not  unto  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel,  neither  seek  the  Lord  !  .  .  .  Now  the  Egyptians  are 
men,  and  not  God,  and  their  horses  flesh,  and  not  spirit.  When  the 
Lord  shall  stretch  out  His  hand,  both  he  that  helpeth  shall  fall,  and 
he  that  is  helper  shall  fall  down,  and  they  all  shall  fall  together.  For 
thus  hath  the  Lord  spoken  unto  me.  Like  as  the  lion  and  the  young 
lion  roaringon  his  prey,  when  a  multitude  of  shepherds  is  called  forth 
against  him,  he  will  not  be  afraid  of  their  voice  nor  abase  himself  for 
the  noise  of  them;  so  shall  the  Lord  of  hosts  come  down  to  fight  for 
Mount  Zion  and  for  the  hill  thereof.  As  birds  flying,  so  will  the  Lord 
of  hosts  defend  Jerusalem ;  ...  He  will  preserve  it."  — ISA.  xxxi.  1-5. 

Matters  have  now  progressed  a  stage.  Isaiah's  warnings 
are  not  only  unheeded,  but  set  at  nought.  Alarmed  at  the 

»  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  36,  37. 

t  See  Mr.  George  Smith's  "  History  of  Asshur-banI  pal,"  pp.  16, 
19,  23,  54,  etc. 


192  EGYPT  AND  BAB YL ON. 

advances  that  Sennacherib  has  made  and  is  making,  con. 
vinced,  not  perhaps  without  reason,  that  the  policy  of  As- 
syria is  to  leave  him  the  mere  shadow  of  independence,  Hez- 
ekiah  has  taken  the  final  plunge.  Declining  to  ask  counsel 
of  God's  prophet  (ver.  1),  he  has  sent  ambassadors  of  high 
rank  (ver.  4),  accompanied  by  a  train  of  camels  and  asses, 
laden  with  rich  presents  (ver.  6),  to  the  court  of  the  vassal 
Pharaoh  to  whom  is  committed  the  government  of  Lower 
Egypt.  "  His "  (i.  e.,  Hezekiah's)  "  princes  are  at  Zoan " 
(Tunis)  ;  "  his  ambassadors  have  come  to  Hanes."  He  has 
made  application  for  a  force  of  chariots  and  cavalry  (ch. 
xxxvi.  9).  He  has  probably  sent  a  prayer  to  the  Ethiopian 
suzerain  of  the  country,  requesting  him  to  move  to  his  relief. 
The  thing  is  done,  and  cannot  be  undone ;  and  it  remains 
only  for  the  prophet  to  make  a  declaration,  first,  that  it  hcs 
been  done  against  God's  will  (vers.  1,  9,  12),  and  secondly, 
that  it  will  be  of  no  avail — nothing  will  come  of  it — the 
Egyptians  will  give  no  effectual  help  (vers.  5,  7).  The  his- 
torical chapters  of  Isaiah,  especially  chapters  xxxvi.  and 
xxxvii.,  are  the  sequel  to  this  intimation.  They  show  that 
Hezekiah  received  no  help  at  all  from  the  subordinate 
Pharaoh,  who  was  probably  Shabatok,  and  that  though 
Tirhakah  did  move  on  his  behalf  (ch.  xxxvii.  9),  yet  that  he 
neither  engaged  the  forces  of  Sennacherib,  nor  seriously 
troubled  him.  The  relief  of  Hezekiah,  and  the  relief  of 
Egypt  itself — whose  subjection  to  Assyria  was  thereby  de- 
ferred for  a  generation — came  from  another  quarter.  When 
Hezekiah  gave  up  his  trust  in  any  arm  of  fiesh,  and  made 
his  appeal  to  God,  spreading  before  Him  the  blasphemous 
letter  of  Sennacherib  (ibid.,  vers.  14-20),  then  Isaiah  was 
commissioned  to  assure  him  of  a  miraculous  deliverance. 
"  Then"  ("that  night,"  2  Kings  xix.  35)  "the  angel  of  the 
Lord  went  forth,  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians  an 
hundred  and  fourscore  and  five  thousand :  and  when  they 
arose  early  in  the  morning,  behold,  they  were  all  dead  corpses  'r 
(Isa.  xxxvii.  30).  The  deliverance  itself,  and  its  miraculous, 
or  at  anv  rate  its  marvelous  character,  was  acknowledged 
by  the  Egyptians,  no  less  than  by  the  Israelites.  When, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards,  Herodotus  visited 
Egypt,  he  was  informed  that "  Sennacherib,  king  of  the  Arabi- 
ans and  Assyrians,  having  marched  a  great  army  into  Egypt, 
was  met  at  Pelusium  by  the  Egyptian  monarch.  As  the  two 
hosts  lay  there  opposite  one  another,  there  came  in  the  night 


NOTICES  IN  ISIAIAH.  193 

a  number  of  field-mice,  which  devoured  all  the  quivers  and 
bow  strings  of  the  enemy,  and  ate  the  thongs  by  which  they 
managed  their  shields.  Next  morning  they  commenced  their 
flight,  and  great  multitudes  fell,  as  they  had  no  arms  with 
which  to  defend  themselves."  * 

"  In  that  day  shall  five  cities  in  the  land  of  Egypt  speak  the  language 
of  Canaan,  and  swear  to  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  one  shall  be  called  th« 
city  of  destruction.  In  that  day  shall  there  be  an  altar  to  the  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  a  pillar  at  the  border  thereof  to 
the  Lord.  And  it  shall  be  for  a  sign  and  for  a  witness  unto  the  Lord 
of  hosts  in  the  land  of  Egypt  :  for  they  shall  cry  unto  the  Lord  le- 
oause  of  the  oppressors,  and  he  shall  send  them  a  saviour,  and  a  great 
one,  and  he  shall  deliver  them.  And  the  Lord  shall  be  known  to 
Egypt,  and  the  Egyptians  shall  know  the  Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall 
do  sacrifice  and  oblation;  yea  they  shall  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord, 
and  perform  it.  And  the  Lord  shall  smite  Egypt:  He  shall  smite  and 
heal  it;  and  they  shall  return  even  to  the  Lord,  and  He  shall  be  en- 
treated of  them,  and  He  shall  heal  them." — ISA.  xix.  18-22. 

This  prophecy  has  been  called  a  mere  expression  of 
Isaiah's  earnest  wish  for  the  conversion  of  Egypt  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  true  God,f  but  it  is  at  any  rate  a  wish  which  had 
a  remarkable  fulfilment.  About  the  year  B.C.  170,  Onias,  the 
BOH  of  Onias  III.,  the  high-priest,  quitted  Palestine,  and  sought 
refuge  with  Ptolemy  Philometor,who  readily  protected  him  on 
account  of  the  hostility  between  the  two  royal  houses  of  Egypt 
and  of  Syria.  While  a  refugee  at  his  court,  Onias,  regarding 
the  position  of  his  brethren  in  Palestine,  oppressed  by  Antio- 
chus  Epiphanes,  as  well-nigh  hopeless,  conceived  the  idea  of 
founding  and  maintaining  a  temple  in  Egypt  itself,  which 
should  be  free  from  the  corruptions  then  creepingin  at  Jerusa- 
lem and  should  be  a  rallying-point  to  the  Jewish  nation,  should 
the  temple  on  Mount  Zion  be  destroyed  or  made  a  heathen 
fane.  Under  these  circumstances  he  made  appeal  to  Ptolemy 
and  his  wife  Cleopatra  for  the  grant  of  a  site.  "  In  the  dis- 
trict of  Heliopolis,  a  part  of  Egypt  already  consecrated  by 
the  memory  of  Moses  (Gen.  xli.  45),  he  had  observed  a 
spot  where  a  sanctuary  of  Bubastis  (Pasht),a  goddess  of  the 
country,  was  languishing  among  the  thousand  other  Egyp- 
tian sanctuaries.  This  place  he  requested  for  himself,  and  it 
was  reported  that  Ptolemy  granted  it  with  the  jesting  re- 
mark that  he  wondered  how  Onias  could  think  of  making  a 

*  Herod,  ii.  141. 

*  Stanley,  "  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church,"  Am.  Ed.,  voL  ill., 
p.  223. 


194  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

sanctuary  out  of  a  spot  which,  though  inhabited  by  sacred 
animals,  was  yet  in  the  Judaean  sense  polluted,  for  the 
animals  were  among  those  reckoned  unclean  by  the  Judaeans. 
In  the  sanctuary  itself  was  placed  an  altar  resembling  that 
at  Jerusalem.  Instead  of  the  seven-lighted  candle-stick, 
which  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  too  holy  to  be  imitated, 
n  single  golden  lamp  was  suspended  in  it  by  a  golden  chain. 
The  sacred  house  was  built  somewhat  in  the  form  of  a  tower" 
— the  general  style  of  the  building  being  apparently  not 
Jewish,  but  Egyptian* — "  the  fore-court  was  enclosed  with 
a  wall  of  brick  and  gates  of  stone,  and  the  whole  of  the  forti- 
fied little  town,  with  the  district  which  gathered  round  the 
temple,  was  probably  called  Oneion."t 

This  temple  continued  to  exist  from  B.  c.  170  to  B.  c. 
73,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  the  Romans.  It  was  greatly 
venerated  by  the  bulk  of  the  Egyptian  Jews,  who  brought 
thither  their  sacrifices  and  their  offerings.  Jews  flocked  to 
the  towns  in  its  neighborhood ;  and  it  may  well  be,  though 
the  actual  fact  cannot  be  proved,  that  then  at  least  "  five 
cities  in  the  land  of  Egypt  spoke"  (  Hebrew)  "  the  language 
of  Canaan,"  one  of  them  being  Ir-ha-kheres,  "  the  city  of  the 
sun,"  the  ancient  Heliopolis.J  At  the  same  time  the  great 
synagogue  of  Alexandria,  at  the  extreme  "  border  "  of  the 
land,  where  it  was  most  commonly  approached  by  strangers, 
stood  "  as  a  pillar  "  (ch.  xix.  19)  "  for  a  sign  and  for  a  wit- 
ness unto  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  showing  that  Jehovah  was 
worshiped  in  the  land  openly,  and  with  the  goodwill  of  the 
Government,  and  indicating  that  Egypt — so  long  Jehovah's 
enemy — had  been  at  least  partially,  converted  to  His  ser- 
vice. 

•Stanley,  "Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church."  Am.  Ed.,  vol.  Hi., 
p.  222. 

t  Ewald,  "  History  of  Israel,"  vol.  v.,  p.  356,  E.  T.  Compare 
Joseph,  "  Ant.  Jud.,"  xiii.  3,  §  2. 

J  See  Mr.  R.  S.  Poole's  article  on  IE-HA-HEKES  in  Smith's  "  Diet, 
of  the  Bible,"  vol.  i.  p.  870. 


NOTICES  IN  JEREMIAH  AND  EZEKIEL.          19ft 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

NOTICES   OF  EGYPT  IN  JEREMIAH  AXD  EZEKIEL. 

THE  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  have  suffered  greatly  by  dis- 
arrangement ;  and  the  historical  notices  which  they  contain, 
more  especially  those  that  concern  Egypt,  are  wholly  out  of 
their  proper  chronological  order.  We  propose,  therefore,  to 
follow  the  actual  order  of  time  rather  than  that  of  Jeremiah's 
chapters  according  to  our  translators'  arrangement,*  and  we 
consequently  commence  with  one  of  the  latest  of  his  notices, 
namely,  that  contained  in  the  earlier  portion  of  his  forty- 
sixth  chapter : — 

"  The  word  of  the  Lord  which  came  to  Jeremiah  the  prophet 
against  the  Gentiles,  against  Egypt,  against  the  army  of  Pharaoh- 
Is  echo,  king  of  Egypt,  which  was  by  the  river  Euphrates  in  Carche- 
inish,  which  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  smote  in  the  fourth 
year  of  Jehoiakim,  the  son  of  Josiah,  king  of  Judah.  Order  ye  the 
buckler  and  shield,  and  draw  near  to  battle.  Harness  the  horses;  and 
get  up,  ye  horsemen,  and  stand  forth  with  your  helmets;  furbish  the 
spears,  and  put  on  the  brigandines.  Wherefore  have  I  seen  them  dis- 
mayed and  turned  away  back  ?  and  their  mighty  onts  are  beaten  down, 
and  are  fled  apace,  and  look  not  back:  for  fear  was  round  about,  saith. 
the  Lord.  Let  not  the  swift  flee  away,  nor  the  mighty  man  escape; 
they  shall  stumble  and  fall  towards  the  north,  by  the  river  Euphrates. 
Who  is  this  that  coineth  up  as  a  flood,  whose  waters  are  moved  as  the 
rivers  ?  Egypt  riseth  up  like  a  flood,  and  his  waters  are  moved  like 
the  rivers,  and  lie  saith,  I  will  go  up  and  cover  the  earth;  I  will  de- 
stroy the  city  and  the  inhabitants  thereof.  Come  up,  ye  horses,  and 
rage,  ye  chariots;  and  let  the  mighty  men  come  forth;  the  Ethiopians 
and  the  Libyans,  that  handle  the  shield;  and  the  Lydians,  that  handle 
and  bend  the  bow.  For  this  is  the  day  of  the  Lord  God  of  hosts,  a 
day  of  vengeance,  that  he  may  avenge  him  of  his  adversaries  ;  and 
the  sword  shall  devour,  and  it  shall  be  satiate  and  made  drunk  with 
their  blood;  for  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  hath  a  sacrifice  in  the  north 
country  by  the  river  Euphrates.  Go  up  into  Gilead,  and  take  balm, 
O  virgin,  the  daughter  of  Egypt;  in  vain  shalt  thou  use  many  medi- 
cines: for  thou  shall  not  be  cured.  The  nations  have  heard  of  thy 
shame,  and  thy  cry  hath  filled  the  land ;  for  the  mighty  man  hath 

•  Our  translators  follow  the  Hebrew.  The  Septuagint  arrange* 
ment  is  quite  different 


19G  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Btumbled  against  the  mighty,  and  they  are  fallen  both  together."— 
JEB.  xlvi.  1-12. 

In  this  passage  we  have  the  fullest  account  that  has  come 
down  to  us  of  one  of  the  most  important  among  the  "  decisive 
battles  of  the  world,"  The  contending  powers  are  Egypt  and 
Babylon,  the  contending  princes  Neko  (Pharaoh  Necho), 
the  son  of  Psamatik  I.,  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  son  of 
Nabopolassar — the  founder  of  the  second  empire  of  the 
Chaldasans.  We  have  already  seen*  how  Neko,  having  (in 
B.  c.  608)  defeated  Josiah,  king  of  Judah,  at  Megiddo,  on  the 
border  of  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  pressed  forward,  to 
meet  the  "  house  with  which  he  had  war  at  Carchemish  by 
Euphrates"  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  20).  Complete  success  for  the 
time  attended  his  expedition.  lie  made  himself  master  of 
the  whole  tract  of  territory  intervening  between  the  "  river 
of  Egypt  "  (Wady-el-Arish)  on  the  one  hand  and  the  river 
Euphrates  on  the  other  (2  Kings  xxiv.  7).  Syria  in  its  widest 
extent,  Phoenicia,  Philistia,  and  Judasa  submitted  to  him.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  days  of  the  Thothmeses  and  Amenhoteps 
were  about  to  return,  and  Egypt  to  be  once  more  the  predom- 
inant power  in  the  Eastern  world,  the  "  lady  of  nations,"  the 
sovereign  at  one  and  the  same  time  of  Africa  and  of  Asia. 
Had  Babylon  acquiesced  in  the  loss  of  territory,  her  prestige 
would  have  been  gone,  and  her  empire  would  probably  have 
soon  crumbled  into  dust.  Egypt  and  Media  would  have 
stood  face  to  face  as  the  two  rivals  for  supremacy;  and 
possibly  the  entire  course  of  the  world's  later  history  might 
have  been  changed. 

But  Nabopolassar  appreciated  aright  the  importance  of 
the  crisis,  and  before  Egypt  had  had  time  to  consolidate  her 
power  in  the  newly  conquered  provinces,  resolved  on  making 
a  great  effort  to  recover  them.  In  the  year  B.  c.  605 — three 
years  after  Neko's  great  success — having  collected  his  troops 
and  made  his  preparations,  he  sent  his  son  and  heir,  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, at  the  head  of  a  large  army,  to  reconquer  the  lost 
territory.  Nebuchadnezzar  marched  upon  Carchemish,  the 
strong  frontier  fortress  near  the  Euphrates,  which  had  origin- 
ally been  the  capital  of  the  early  Hittitc  kingdom,  and  the 
site  of  which  is  now  marked  by  the  ruins  called  "  Jerablus  " 
or  "  Jerabus."*  Here  he  found  Neko  encamped  at  the  head 

See  p.  271. 
t  Sayce,  "  Ancient  Empires  of  the  East,"  American  Edition,  p.  214. 


NOTICES  IN  JEREMIAII  AND  EZEKIEL.          197 

of  a  considerable  force,  in  part,  no  doubt,  Egyptians,  but 
mainly  Ethiopians,  Libyans,  and  Greco-Carians  from  Asia 
Minor,  perhaps  the  "  Lydians  "  of  Jeremiah  (ver.  )  9.*  The 
battle  poetically  described  by  Jeremiah  was  fought.  The 
Kgyptian  force  of  foot,  horse,  and  chariots  was  completely 
<!i -t'cated;  a  great  carnage  took  place  (ver.  10)  ;  and  the  few 
survivors  fled  away  in  dismay  (ver.5),  evacuating  province 
after  province,  and  retiring  within  their  own  frontier. 
Nebuchadnezzar  followed  on  their  traces,  at  least  as  far  south 
as  Jerusalem,  where  he  received  the  submission  of  Jehoialqm 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  1),  and  from  which  he  carried  off  a  portion 
of  the  temple  treasures  (Dan.  i.  1).  He  would  probably  have 
gone  further  and  invaded  Egypt  had  not  news  reached  him 
(late  in  B.  c.  605)  of  his  father's  decease,  which  necessitated 
his  own  immediate  return  to  his  capital.  Accompanied  by 
a  small  force  lightly  equiped,  he  crossed  the  desert  by  way 
of  Damascus  and  Tadmor,  while  the  heavy  armed  troops,  the 
baggage,  and  the  prisoners  made  their  way  to  Babylon  by 
the  usual  but  circuitous  route,  down  the  valley  of  the 
Orontes,  across  Northern  Syria  to  Carchemish,  and  then 
along  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates. 

We  have  one  profane  account  of  this  expedition,  enter- 
ing far  less  into  details  than  Jeremiah,  but  in  complete 
accord  with  his  statements,  and  supplying  various  points  of 
interest,  which  have  been  worked  into  the  above  narrative. 
The  Babylonian  historian,  Berosus,t  as  quoted  by  Josephus, 
says,  speaking  of  Nebuchadnezzar :  "  When  his  father, 
Nobopolassar,  heard  that  the  satrap  appointed  to  govern 
Egypt,  and  the  districts  of  Co3lesyria  and  Phoenicia,  had  re- 
volted from  him,  as  he  was  not  himself  able  any  longer  to 
endure  hardships,  he  assigned  a  certain  portion  of  his  army 
to  his  son,  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  was  in  the  flower  of  his 
youth,  and  sent  him  against  the  rebel.  And  when  Nebu- 
chadnezzar had  fallen  in  with  him,  and  engaged  him  in 
battle,  he  defeated  him,  and  from  this  beginning  proceeded 
to  bring  the  country  under  his  own  rule.  Now  it  chanced 
that  his  father,  Nabopolassar,  just  at  this  time  fell  sick,  and 
departed  this  life,  having  reigned  one-and-twenty  years. 

"  "Lud  "  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  ordinarily  designates  an  Afri- 
can people  (see  Gen.  x.  13;  1  Chron.  i.  11;  Isa.  Ixvi.  19;  Ezek.  xxx. 
5).  But  here  the  "  Lydians  "  may  be  meant.  Gyges  had  furnished 
the  original  Greco-Carian  force. 

t  Fr.  14  in  the  Fr.  Hist.  Gr."  of  C.  Muller,  vol.  ii.,  p.  506. 


198  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Nebuchadnezzar  shortly  after  heard  of  his  father's  decease, 
and,  having  arranged  the  affairs  of  Egypt  and  the  other 
countries,  and  appointed  certain  of  his  friends  to  conduct  to 
Babylon  the  captives  which  he  had  taken  from  the  Jews,  the 
Phoenicians,  the  Syrians,  and  the  parts  about  Egypt,  together 
with  the  heavy-armed  troops  and  the  baggage,  started  him- 
self with  a  very  small  escort,  and,  traveling  by  the  way  of 
the  wilderness,  reached  Babylon. 

"  The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  to  Jeremiah  the  prophet  against 
the  Philistines,  before  that  Pharaoh  smote  Gaza.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Behold,  waters  rise  up  out  of  the  north,  and  shall  be  an  over- 
flowing flood,  and  shall  overflow  the  land,  and  all  that  is  th«rein;  the 
city  and  them  that  dwell  therein  ;  then  the  men  shall  cry,  and  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land  shall  howl.  At  the  noise  of  the  stamping  of 
the  hoofs  of  his  strong  horses,  at  the  rushing  of  his  chariots,  and  at 
the  rumbling  of  his  wheels,  the  fathers  shall  not  look  back  to  their 
children  for  feebleness  of  hands  ;  because  of  the  day  that  cometh  to 
spoil  all  the  Philistines,  and  to  cut  off  fiom  Tyrus  and  Zidon  every 
helper  that  retnaineth  ;  for  the  Lord  will  spoil  the  Philistines,  the 
remnant  of  the  country  of  Caphtor.  Baldness  is  come  upon  Gaza  ; 
Ashke'on  is  cut  off  with  the  remnant  of  their  valley:  how  long  wilt 
thou  cut  thyself  ?  O  thou  sword  of  the  Lord,  how  long  will  it  be  ere 
thou  be  quiet  ?  Put  up  thyself  into  thy  scabbard  ;  rest  and  be  still. 
How  can  it  be  quiet,  seeing  the  Lord  hath  given  it  a  charge  against 
Ashkelon,  and  against  the  sea-shore?  There  hath  he  appointed  it." 
JER.  xlvii.  1-7. 

We  are,  first  of  all,  informed  here  that  a  certain  pro- 
phecy was  delivered,  "before  that  Pharaoh  smote  Gaza." 
In  this  statement  it  is  implied  that,  at  some  date  in  the  min- 
istry of  Jeremiah,  the  strong  Philistine  town  of  Gaza  (Jud. 
xvi.  1-3)  was  taken  by  a  king  of  Egypt.  Now  the  kings  of 
Egypt,  contemporary  with  Jeremiah's  ministry  would  seem 
to  have  been  Psamatik  I.,  Neko,  Pasmatik  II.,  and  Ua^hra 
or  "  Pharaoh-Hophra."  Does  it  appear  from  profane  sources 
that  Gaza  was  besieged  and  taken  by  any  one  of  these  mon- 
archs  ? 

This  question  may  be  answered  in  the  affirmative.  Hero- 
dot  us  tells  us  that  after  the  battle  of  Magdolum  (Megiddo), 
Neko  took  "  Kadytis,"  a  large  city  in  Syria.*  This  Kadytis 
he  afterwards  describes  as  lying  upon  the  coast  between 
Phoenicia  and  Lake  Serbonis.f  It  was  at  one  time  identified 
with  Jerusalem,  because  the  Arabs  called  that  city  "  Al  Kods  " 
— "  the  Holy ";  and  more  recently  it  has  been  conjectured 

*  Herod.,  ii.  159.  t  Ibid.,  iii.  5. 


NOTICES  IN  JEREMIAH  AND  EZEKIEL.  199 

to  represent  the  Hittite  city  of  "  Cadesh  "  on  the  Orontes  ;  * 
but  its  position  on  or  near  the  sea  militates  against  both 
these  hypotheses.  Gaza  is  called  "  Gazetu  "  in  the  hiero- 
glyphical  inscriptions  of  Egypt,  f  and  "  Khazitu "  in  the 
cuneiform  inscriptions  of  Assyria,  of  which  forms  "  Kadytis  " 
is  a  fair  rendering.  Hence  recent  editors  of  Herodotus 
regard  it  as  "  plain"  that  the  Kadytis,  which  he  says  that 
Neko  took,  was  Gaza,  t 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  remainder  of  the  prophecy 
refers*  in  any  way  to  Egypt.  The  "  waters  that  rise  up  out 
of  the  north  "  are  usually  taken  by  the  commentators  for  the 
armv  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  either  when  he  invaded  Syria  after 
the  battle  of  Carchemish  (B.  c.  605),  or  subsequently  when 
he  advanced  to  the  sieges  of  Jerusalem  and  Tyre  (B.  c.  598). 
The  description  in  ver.  3  would  suit  a  Babylonian  army  as 
well  as  an  Egyptian,  and  the  characteristic  of  "  noise  "  seems 
to  belong  to  Babylon  especially  (chs.  iv.  29  ;  viii.  16  ;  Ezek. 
xxvi.  10).  There  is  not,  however,  any  distinct  evidence  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  at  any  time  led  a  hostile  expedition  into 
Philistia,  while  we  know  of  Neko  that  he  did  so ;  and  as  his 
expedition  seems  to  have  been  made  on  his  return  from 
Carchemish,  his  army  would  on  this  occasion  have  "  risen  up 
out  of  the  north  "  (ver.  2).  The  note  of  time  in  ver.  1  is  also 
more  apposite  if  Neko's  expedition  is  intended,  since  the 
prophet  would  then  have  inserted  the  date,  in  order  to  draw 
attention  to  the  fact  that  his  prophecy  of  a  great  invasion 
of  Philistia  was  delivered  before  the  event. 

"  And  King  Zedekiah,  the  son  of  Josiali,  reigned  instead  of  Coniah, 
the  son  of  Jehoiakira.  .  .  .  Then  Pha.aoh's  army  was  come  forth  out 
of  Egypt;  and  when  the  Chaldaeans  that  beseiged  Jerusalem  heard 
tidings  of  them,  they  departed  from  Jerusalem.  Then  came  the  word 
of  the  Lord  unto  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel,  Thus  shall  ye  say  unto  the  king  of  Judah,  that  sent 
you  to  inquire  of  me,  Behold,  Pharaoh's  army,  which  is  come  forth  to 
help  you,  shall  return  to  Egypt  into  their  own  land.  And  the  Chal- 
daeans shall  come,  again,  and  fight  against  this  city,  and  take  it,  and 
burn  it  with  fire." — JEU.  xxxvii.  1-10. 

"He  (Zedekiah)  rebelled  against  him  (Nebuchadnezzar)  in  send- 
ing him  ambassadors  into  Egypt,  that  they  might  give  him  horses  anil 
much  people.  Shall  he  prosper  ?  Shall  he  escape  that  doeth  such 
things  ?  Or  shall  he  break  the  covenant,  and  be  delivered  ?  As  I 

*  Lenormant,  "Manuel  d'Histoire  Ancienne."  vol.  ii.,  p.  391. 
t  "Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  115;  Brugsch,  "Geschichte 
uEgyptens,"  p.  295. 

J  Sayce,  "  Ancient  Empires,"  American  Edition,  p.  55. 


200  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

live,  saith  the  Lord,  surely  in  the  place  where  the  king  dwelleth  that 
made  him  king,  whose  oath  he  despised,  even  with  him  in  the  midst 
of  Babylon  he  shall  die.  Neither  shall  Pharaoh  with  his  mighty  army 
and  great  company  make  for  him  in  the  war,  by  casting  mounts  and 
building  forts,  to  cut  off  many  persons." — EZEK.  xvii.  15-17. 

The  Pharaoh  contemporary  with  the  later  years  of  Zede- 
kiah,  the  last  king  of  Judah,  who  reigned  from  B.  c.  595  to 
B.  c.  586,  was  undoubtedly  Ua-ap-ra,*  whom  the  Greeks  called 
"  Apries,"  f  and  whom  Jeremiah  in  one  place  speaks  of  as 
"  Pharaoh-Hophra  "  (ch.  xliv.  30).  Apries  ascended  the  throne 
in  B.  c.  591,  and  reigned  alone  nineteen  years  (to  B.  c.  572), 
after  which  he  was  for  six  years  more  joimVking  with  Amasis.J 
It  would  seem  that  very  soon  after  his  accession  Zedekiah 
made  overtures  to  him  for  an  alliance  (Ezek.  xvii.  15), 
transferring  to  him  the  allegiance  which  he  owed  to  Babylon, 
and  making  a  request  for  a  large  body  of  troops,  horse  and 
foot  (ibid).  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  bold  and  aggressive 
character  assigned  to  Apries  by  the  Greeks§  to  find  that  he 
at  once  accepted  Zedekiah's  offer,  and  prepared  to  bear  his 
part  in  the  war.  "  Pharaoh's  army  went  forth  out  of  Egypt  " 
(Jer.  xxxvii.  5)  with  the  object  of  "  helping  "  Zedekiah  (ibid, 
ver.  7) ;  and  the  movement  was  so  far  successful  that  the 
army  of  the  Chaldeans,  which  had  commenced  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  "  broke  up  from  before  it  for  fear  of  Pharoah's 
army"  (ibid.  ver.  11).  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  was  directing 
the  siege,  marched  away  to  encounter  the  Egyptians,  and 
either  terrified  them  into  a  retreat,  or  actually  engaged  and 
defeated  them.  ||  The  foundation  was  thus  laid  of  that  enmity 
between  the  two  kings  which,  later  in  Egyptian  history,  is 
found  to  have  had  very  important  consequences.  Apries, 
for  the  time,  submitted,  and  led  his  army  back  within  his 
own  frontier,  leaving  the  unfortunate  Jewish  monarch  to  his 
fate. 

"  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Jeremiah  in  Tahpanhes, 
saying,  Take  great  stones  in  thine  hand,  and  hide  them  in  the  clay  in 
the  brick-kiln,  which  is  at  the  entry  of  Pharaoh's  house  in  Taphanhes, 

*  Brugsch  ("Geschichte  CEgyptens,"  p.  734)  gives  the  name  as 
"Uah-ab-ra,"  Birch  ("Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,"  p.  ISO)  as 
"  Uah-hap-ra." 

t  Herod. ,ii.,  161;  Diod.  Sic.,  i.  68.  Manetho,  however,  calls  him 
"  Uaphris." 

J  Wiedemann,  "  Geschichte  CEgyptens,"  p.  121. 

§  Herod.  1.  8.  c.;  Diod.  Sic..  1.  s.  c. 

II  So  Josephus,  "Ant.  Jud.,'  x.  1,  §  3. 


NOTICES  IN  JEREMIAH  AND  EZEKIEL.          201 

In  the  sight  of  the  men  of  Judah;  and  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  Behold,  I  will  send  and  take  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the  king  of  Babylon,  niy  servant,  and  will  set  his  throne 
upon  these  stones  that  I  have  hid;  and  he  shall  spread  his  royal  pavi- 
lion over  them.  And  when  he  cometh,  he  shall  smite  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  deliver  such  as  are  for  death  to  death ;  and  such  as  are  for 
captivity  to  captivity  ;  and  such  as  are  for  the  sword  to  the  sword. 
And  I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  house  of  the  gods  of  Esypt  ;  and  he 
shall  burn  them,  and  carry  them  away  captives;  and  he  shall  array 
himself  with  the  land  of  Egypt,  as  a  shepherd  putteth  on  his  garment; 
and  he  shal  go  forth  from  thence  in  peace.  He  shall  break  also  the 
images  of  Beth-shemesh,  that  is  in  the  land  of  Egypt  ;  and  the  houses 
of  the  gods  of  the  Egyptians  shall  he  burn  with  fire." — JEK.  xliii. 
8-13. 

"  The  word  that  the  Lord  spake  to  Jeremiah  the  prophet  how 
Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  should  come  and  smite  the  land 
of  Egypt.  Declare  ye  in  Egypt,  and  publish  in  Migclol,  and  publish 
in  Noph  and  in  Tahpanhes;  say  ye,  Stand  fast,  and  prepare  thee  ;  for 
the  sword  shall  devour  round  about  thee.  Why  are  Ihy  valiant  men 
swept  away  ?  They  stood  not  because  the  Lord  did  drive  them.  He 
made  many  to  fall;  yea,  one  fell  upon  another;  and  they  said  Arise, 
and  let  us  go  again  to  our  own  people  and  to  the  land  of  our  nativity 
from  the  oppressing  sword.  They  did  cry  there,  Pharaoh,  king  of 
Egypt,  is  but  a  noise;  he  hath  passed  the  time  appointed.  .  .  .  O 
thou  daughter  dwelling  in  Egypt,  furnish  thyself  to  go  into  captivity; 
for  Noph  shall  be  waste  arid  desolate  without  an  inhabitant.  Egypt 
is  like  a  very  fair  heifer;  but  destruction  comeih  ;  it  cometh  out  of 
the  north.  Also  her  hired  men  are  in  the  midst  of  her  like  fatted 
bullocks;  for  they  also  are  turned  back  and  are  fled  away  together; 
they  did  not  stand,  because  the  day  of  their  calamity  was  come  upon 
them,  and  the  time  of  their  visitation.  .  .  .  The  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
God  of  Israel  saith,  Behold,  I  will  punish  the  multitude  of  No,  and 
Pharaoh,  and  Egypt,  with  their  gods,  and  their  kings;  even  Pharaoh, 
and  all  them  that  trust  in  him ;  and  I  M'ill  deliver  them  into  the  hand 
of  those  that  seek  their  lives,  and  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
king  of  Babylon,  and  into  the  hand  of  his  servants:  and  afterward  it 
shall  be  inhabited,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  saith  the  Lord." — JEK.  xlvi. 
13-26. 

On  the  fact  of  there  having  been  at  least  one  invasion  of 
Egypt  by  Nebuchadnezzar  subsequently  to  his  capture  of 
Jerusalem  in  B.  c.  580,  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  the  reader 
to  Chapter  VII.  of  this  work.  It  was  there  shown  that  two 
wholly  independent  documents,  one  Egyptian,  the  other 
Babylonian,  prove  the  invasion  to  have  taken  place,  while 
the  Egyptian  one,  though  seeking  to  minimize  the  success 
of  the  invaders,  necessarily  implies  an  occupation  of  the 
whole  of  Egypt.  The  general  I  lor,  who  is  "governor  of  tins 
regions  of  the  south,"  admits  that  the  Asiatics  penetrated  to 
the  extreme  southern  border  of  Egypt  (com p.  Ezek.  xxix.  10 ; 
XX.  .  6),  and  claims  credit  for  not  having  "let  them  advauco 


202  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

quite  into  Nubia."  *  His  account  of  his  careful  restoration 
of  the  temple  of  Kneph  at  Elephantine  f  indicates  that  it 
had  suffered  damage  at  the  hands  of  the  invaders,  and  is  a 
comment  on  the  expi-ession  "  the  houses  of  the  gods  of  the 
Egyptians  shall  he  burn  with  fire  "  (Jer.  xliii.  13).  The  repre- 
sentation of  the  army  by  which  Egypt  was  defended  as  one 
of  "  hired"  men  (ibid.  xlvi.  21), who  said  one  to  another,  when 
they  were  defeated,  "  Arise,  and  let  us  go  again  to  our  own 
people  and  to  the  land  of  our  nativity  from  the  oppressing 
sword"  (ibid.  ver.  16),  accords  well  with  all  that  we  know 
of  the  Egyptian  military  force  of  the  time,  which  consisted, 
not  of  native  soldiers,  but  of  foreign  mercenaries,  Ethiopians, 
Libyans,  Carians,  and  Greeks. $  The  date  of  the  expedition, 
Nebuchadnezzar's  thirty-seventh  year,  §  or  B;  c.  568,  falls 
exactly  into  the  time  when  Apries  and  Amasis  were  joint- 
kings  of  Egypt,  and  explains  the  apparent  discrepancy  be- 
tween the  two  documents,  one  of  which  speaks  of  Apries  as 
king,  while  the  other  certainly  did  not  name  Apries,  and 
probably  named  Amasis.  ||  The  conjoint  reign  would  even 
seem  to  be  indicated  by  the  mention  of  "  kings  "  in  ch. 
xlvi.  25. 

"  I  will  give  Pharaoh-Hophra,  king  of  Egypt,  into  the  hand  of  his 
enemies,  and  into  the  hand  of  them  that  seek  his  life,  as  I  gave  Zede- 
kiah,  king  of  Judah,  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Baby- 
lon, his  enemy,  and  that  sought  his  life."— JER.  xl.  30. 

There  would  seem  to  be  no  doubt  that  this  prophecy  was 
fulfilled  to  the  letter,  and  that  Pharaoh-Hophra  (TJa-aprn) 
fell  into  the  power  of  his  enemies  and  suffered  a  violent  death. 
But  it  is  not  altogether  clear  who  these  enemies  were,  or 
how  his  death  was  brought  about.  Herodotus  relates  ![  that 
the  reverses  which  befell  him  arose  out  of  an  unsuccessful 
expedition  against  Gyrene,  in  which  Apries  was  thought  to 
have  intentionally  sacrificed  the  lives  of  some  thousands  of 
his  soldiers.  A  mutiny  followed,  and  Amasis,  having  been 

*  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  vi.  p.  83. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  82,  lines  25,  36,  40. 

I  Herod.,  ii.  103;  Jer.  xlvi.  9,  etc. 

§  "Transactions  of  Sockty  of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  vol.  vii.,  p. 
222. 

II  The  name  is  partially  obliterated,  but  evidently  ended  in  -su- 
The  Egyptian  name  of  Aainasis,  Ashmes,  terminated  in  a.    That  of 
Apries,  ITa-ap-ra,  contained  no  8. 

H  Herod,  ii.,  101-  163. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  203 

sent  to  put  it  down,  was  induced  to  place  himself  at  its  head. 
The  result  was  a  civil  war,  in  which  the  rebel  chief  was  suc- 
cessful. Apries  fell  into  his  hands,  and  was  at  first  treated 
with  kindness,  allowed  to  inhabit  the  royal  palace  *  and  (we 
must  suppose)  to  retain  the  title  of  king.  But  after  six 
years,  during  which  both  monarchs  reigned,  but  Amasis 
alone  governed,  dissatisfaction  with  this  condition  of  things 
showed  itself  among  the  Egyptians,  who  persuaded  Amasis 
to  allow  them  to  put  Apries  to  death.  The  story  is  not 
intrinsically,  very  probable  ;  and  it  is  contradicted  by  Jose- 
]>hus,  who  ascribes  the  execution  of  Apries  to  Nebuchad- 
nezzar.t  That  monarch  may  not  improbably  have  borne 
Apries  a  grudge  on  account  of  the  aid  which  he  gave  to  Zed- 
okiah,  and  also  of  his  aggressions  upon  the  Phoenician  cities,^ 
and,  though  the  adversary  with  whom  he  contended  in  the 
field  may  have  been  Amasis,  he  may  yet  have  let  his  main 
vengeance  fall  upon  Apries,  whom  he  no  doubt  looked  on  as 
a  rebel,  as  he  had  looked  npon  Neko.§  Amasis  may  have 
obtained  easier  terms  of  peace  by  the  surrender  of  his  fellow- 
king,  or  may  even  have  been  allowed  to  retain  the  throne 
in  consequence  of  his  complaisance.  Most  probably  he  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  a  vassal  monarch,  a  position  which  he 
may  have  retained  until  Nabonidus  was  threatened  by  Cyrus 
(B.  c.  547),  or  even  until  the  fall  of  Babylon  in  B.  c.  538. 
During  this  period  Egypt  was  a  "  base  kingdom"  (Ezek. 
xxix.  14),  "  the  basest  of  the  kingdoms  "  (ibid.  ver.  15),  if  its 
former  exaltation  was  kept  in  view, 

t«  Herod.,  ii,,  169.  t  "  Ant.  Jud."  x.  9,  §  7. 

J  Herod.,  ii.  161;  Diod.  Sic,,  i.  68.     §  Berosiu,  Fr.  14. 


204  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  DANIEL. 

THE  notices  of  Egypt  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  have  the 
peculiarity  that  they  are  absolutely  and  entirely  prophetical. 
Daniel  is  not  individually  brought  into  any  contact  with 
Egypt ;  nor  does  Egypt  play  any  part  in  the  stirring  events 
of  the  time  wherein  he  lives.  Egypt  has,  in  fact,  fallen  to 
the  rank  of  a  very  second-rate  power  after  the  battle  of  Car- 
chemish  (B.  c.  605),  and  counted  for  little  in  the  political 
struggles  of  the  time,  which  had  for  their  locality  the  great 
Iranian  plateau,  together  with  the  broad  valley  of  the  Tigris 
and  the  Euphrates.  Daniel,  who  was  contemporary,  as  he 
tells  us  (chs.  i.-vi.),  with  Nebuchadnezzar,  Belshazzar,  Darius 
the  Mede,  and  Cyrus  the  Great,  must  have  died  about  B.  c. 
534,  or  at  any  rate  before  B.C.  529 — the  year  of  Cyrus' 
decease.  His  notices  of  Egypt  belong  to  a  date  more  than 
two  centuries  later.  It  is  given  him  to  see  in  vision  a  sort 
of  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  world  from  his  own  time  to 
the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Messiah  ;  and  in  this 
"  Apocalyptic  Vision,"  or  rather  series  of  visions,  the  future 
of  Egypt  is  placed  before  him,  in  some  detail,  during  a  space 
of  some  century  and  a  half,  from  about  B.  c.  323  to  about 
B.  c.  168. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  genuineness  and 
authenticity  of  the  entire  Book  of  Daniel  have  been  fiercely 
assailed,  both  in  remote  times  and  in  our  own  day.  But  the 
arguments  of  the  assailants  have  never  been  regarded  as  of 
any  weight  bv  the  Church  ;  and  the  Book  has  maintained 
its  place  in  the  Canon  through  all  ecclesiastical  ages  and 
throughout  Christendom.  It  is  impossible  in  a  volume  like 
the  present  to  enter  into  this  great  controversy,  which  has 
employed  the  pens  of  more  than  twenty  critics  of  reputo 
during  the  present  century,  and  which  cannot  be  said  to 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  205 

have  been  set  at  rest  even  by  the  admirable  labors  of  Auber- 
len,  Hengstenberg,  and  Pusey.  We  shall  here,  of  necessity, 
assume  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the  Book,  and 
especially  of  the  chapter  (ch.  xi.)  which  bears  upon  the  his- 
tory of  Egypt  ;  we  shall  regard  it,  not  as  a  vaticinium  post 
cventum — the  composition  of  a  nameless  author  in  the  time 
of  Antiochus  Epiphanjes — but  as  the  genuine  utterance  of 
Daniel  himself  in  the  years  to  which  he  assigns  it — "  the 
first  year  of  Darius  the  Mede"  (ch.  xi.  1),  or  B.C.  538-7. 
As  the  prophecy  is  too  long  to  be  conveniently  treated  as  a 
whole,  we  shall  break  it  up  into  portions,  and  endeavor  to 
show  how  far  its  various  parts  are  confirmed  or  illustrated 
by  profane  authors. 

"  Now  I  will  shew  thee  the  truth.  Behold,  there  shall  stand  up 
yet  three  kings  in  Persia;  and  the  fourth  shall  be  far  richer  than  they 
all;  and  by  his  strength  through  his  riches  he  shall  stir  up  all  against 
the  realm  of  Grecia.  And  a  mighty  king  shall  stand  up,  that  shall  rule 
with  great  dominion,  and  do  according  to  his  will,  and  when  he  shall 
stand  up,  his  kingdom  shall  be  broken,  and  shall  be  divided  toward 
the  four  winds  of  heaven;  and  not  to  his  posterity,  nor  according  to 
the  dominion  which  he  ruled;  for  his  kingdom  shall  be  plucked  up, 
even  for  others  beside  those." — DAX.  xi.  2-4. 

This  first  section  of  the  prophecy  has  no  direct  bearing 
upon  Egypt.  Its  object  is  to  bridge  the  interval  between 
the  date  of  the  vision  and  the  point  at  which  the  history  of 
Egypt  is  to  be  taken  up.  The  date  of  the  vision  is  B.  c. 
538-7,  the  first  year  of  Darius  the  Mede  in  Babylon,  and  the 
first  of  Cyrus  (by  whom  Darius  had  been  set  up)  in  Persia. 
Egyptian  history  is  to  be  taken  up  from  B.  c.  3*23,  at  which 
point,  after  a  long  period  of  subjection  to  Persia,  Egypt  be- 
came once  more  an  independent  and  important  kingdom. 
What  are  to  be  the  main  events,  the  great  land-marks,  of 
the  interval  ?  The  angel  who  speaks  to  Daniel  thus  enume- 
rates them.  (1)  There  will  be  three  kings  in  Persia,  followed 
by  a  fourth  richer  and  stronger  than  any  of  them,  who  will 
lead  a  great  expedition  into  Greece.  ('2)  A  mighty  king  will 
stand  up,  greater  apparently  then  even  the  Persian  kings, 
who  will  "  rule  with  great  dominion,  and  do  according  to 
his  will."  (3)  After  this  king  has  "  stood  up  "  for  a  while, 
his  kingdom  will  be  broken,  "  divided  toward  the  four  winds 
of  heaven,"  not  descending  to  his  posterity,  either  as  a 
whole,  or  in  any  of  its  fragments,  but  falling  into  the  hands 
of  "  others  beside  those,  i.e.,  of  persons  not  his  descend- 


206  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

ants.  Now,  profane  history  relates  *  that  three  kings  ruled 
in  Persia  after  Cyrus  the  Great,  viz.,  Cambyses  (from  B.  c. 
529  to  B.  c  522),  Bardes  or  Smerdis  during  seven  months  of 
B.  c.  522,  and  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes  (from  B.  c.  521  to 
B.  c.  486)  ;  and  that  these  were  then  followed  by  Xerxes,  the 
son  of  Darius,  f  under  whom  Persia  was  at  the  height  of  its 
power  and  prosperity,  until  in  his  fifth  year  he  "  stirred  up 
all  against  the  realm  of  Grecia,"  and  made  that  great  expedi- 
tion, which  still  remains  one  of  the  most  marvelous  events 
in  the  world's  entire  history.  This  expedition  fell  into  B.  c. 
480,  and  was  followed  by  a  gradual  diminution  of  Persian 
power,  and  by  wars  of  no  great  moment,  until,  in  B.  c.  335, 
a  "  mighty  king  "  stood  up,  viz.,  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
ruled  a  greater  dominion  than  had  been  held  by  any  previous 
monarch,  since  it  reached  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Sutlej, 
and  from  the  Danube  to  Syene.  The  wide  sovereignty  and 
autocratic  pride  of  Alexander  are  well  expressed  by  the 
words  "  that  shall  rule  with  great  dominion  and  do  accord- 
ing to  his  will"  (ver.  3)  ;  for  Alexander  brooked  no  restraint, 
and  was  practically  a  more  absolute  despot  than  any  Persian 
king  had  ever  been.  At  his  death,  as  is  well  known,  his 
kingdom  was  "  broken  up."  Though  he  left  behind  him  an 
illegitimate  son,  Hercules,  and  had  also  a  posthumous  child 
by  Roxana,  called  Alexander,  yet  neither  of  these  ever  suc- 
ceeded to  any  portion  of  his  dominions.  These  fell  at  first 
to  the  ten  generals,  Ptolemy,  Pithon,  Antigonus,  Eumenes, 
Leonnatus,  Lysimachus,  Menander,  Asander,  Philotas,  Lao. 
medon,  and  ultimately  to  Ptolemy,  Seleucus,  Antipater, 
Antigonus,  Eumenes,  Clitus,  and  Cassander. 

"  And  the  king  of  the  south  shall  be  strong,  and  one  of  his  princes 
[and  he]  shall  be  strong  above  him,  and  have  dominion;  his  dominion 
shall  be  a  great  dominion.  And  in  the  end  of  years  they  shall  join 
themselves  together;  for  the  king's  daughter  of  the  south  shall  come 
to  the  king  of  the  north  to  make  an  agreement;  but  she  shall  not 
retain  the  power  of  the  arm;  neither  shall  he  stand,  nor  his  arm  ; 
but  she  shall  be  given  up  and  they  that  brought  her,  and  he  that  be- 
gat her,  and  he  that  strengthened  her  in  these  times."  (DAN.  xi,  5,  6.) 

That  the  King  of  Egypt  is  meant  by  "  the  King  of  the 
South  "  might  be  presumed  from  the  fact  that  Egypt  formed 

•See  especially  Herod.,  ii.  1;  iii.  07,  88,  confirmed  by  the  Behis- 
tun  inscription. 

t  Herod.,  vii.  4  et  seqq. 


ES  IX  DANIEL.  20? 

the  most  southern  portion  of  the  dominions  of  Alexander  ;  * 
but  it  is  placed  beyond  dispute  or  cavil  by  the  mention  of 
Egypt  as  the  country  to  which  the  King  of  the  South  carried 
his  captives,  in  verse  8.  Profane  history  shows  us  that,' 
after  the  death  of  Alexander  (B.  c.  323),  Ptolemy  Lagi,  who 
had  governed  Egypt  as  Alexander's  lieutenant,  from  its  con- 
quest (n.  c.  332)  assumed  the  regal  authority,  and  after  a 
little  time  the  regal  name,  in  that  country,  and  ruled  it  from 
n.  c.  323  to  B.  c.  283 — a  space  of  forty  years. t  He  is  justly 
characterized  as  "  strong,"  since  he  was  able  to  enlarge  his 
original  territories  by  the  addition  of  Phoenicia,  Palestine, 
Cyprus,  and  the  Cyrenaica  ;  and,  though  he  was  sometimes 
defeated,  he  was  upon  the  whole  one  of  the  most  warlike 
and  successful  of  the  princes  among  whom  Alexander's 
kingdom  was  partitioned.  Another,  however,  of  the  princes 
is  truly  said  to  have  been  "  strong  above  him."  The  Syrian 
was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  of  the  kingdoms  into  which 
the  Macedonian  monarchy  became  broken  up  ;  and  Seleucus 
Kicator,  its  first  ruler,  was  a  more  powerful  sovereign  than 
Ptolemy  Lagi.  Seleucus  ruled  from  the  Mediterranean  to 
the  Indus  and  from  the  Jaxartes  to  the  Indian  Ocean,  having 
thus  a  territory  five  or  six  times  as  large  as  that  of  Ptolemy. 
His  dominion  was  emphatically  "  a  great  dominion."  It 
was  the  representative  in  Western  Asia  of  the  Great  Mon- 
archy which  had  existed  in  that  region  from  the  time  of 
Nimrod,  and  exceeded  in  dimensions  every  such  monarchy 
except  the  Persian.  Seleucus  and  Ptolemy  Lagi  maintained 
on  the  whole  friendly  relations  ;  arid  the  struggle  between 
the  kings  of  the  north  and  of  the  south  was  deferred  to  the 
reigns  of  their  successors. 

Daniel's  statement  that  "  in  the  end  of  years  "  the  kings 
of  the  north  and  of  the  south  "  shall  join  themselves  together  " 
implies  a  previous  rupture  and  struggle,  which  is  found  to 
have  taken  place  in  the  reigns  of  Ptolemy  II.  (Philadelphus) 
and  Antiochus  Soter.  A  permanent  jealousy,  and  many 
occasional  causes  of  quarrel,  set  the  two  powers  in  hostility 
the  one  to  the  other ;  and  in  B.  c.  209  Antiochus  made  an  ex- 

*  The  mouths  of  the  Indus  are  about  parallel  with  the  most  southern 
portion  of  Egypt,  but  though  visited  by  Alexander,  they  can  hardly 
be  regarded  as  within  his  permanent  dominions. 

t  Grote,  "History  of  Greece,"  voL  viii.,  p.  633;  Heeren,  "  Manuel 
of  Ancient  Ilistory,"  p.  249. 


208  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

pedition  against  Egypt,  which  resulted  in  complete  failure.* 
leaving  a  stain  on  the  Syrian  arms  which  it  was  regarded  as 
necessary  to  efface.  Antiochus  II.  (Theus)  consequently  re- 
newed the  war  in  B.  c.  260,  and  a  long  contest  followed  with- 
out any  very  decided  advantage  to  either  side,  until,  in  B.  c. 
250,  negotiations  for  peace  were  set  on  foot — the  two  kings 
"  associated  themselves  "  (marginal  rendering),  and  in  the 
following  year  (B.  c.  269)  it  was  arranged  that  Ptolemy  II. 
should  give  his  daughter,  Berenice,  in  marriage  to  Antiochus 
Theus,  who  repudiated  his  previous  wife,  Laoclice,  in  order 
to  make  way  for  her.f  The  wedding  took  place  ;  and  thus 
"  the  king's  daughter  of  the  south  came  to  the  king  of  the 
north  to  make  (i.  e.,  cement)  an  agreement "  (verse  6).  But 
the  well-meant  attempt  at  peace  failed.  In  B.  c.  247,  on  the 
death  of  Ptolemy  II.,  Antiochus  Theus  repudiated  his 
Egyptian  wife,  and  recalled  Laodice,  who  shortly  poisoned 
her  husband,  and  caused  Berenice  also  to  be  put  to  death.  $ 
Thus  the  princess  "  did  not  retain  the  power  of  the  arm  " 
(i.  e.,  the  secular  authority)  ;  neither  did  her  husband  retain 
his  power,  or  "stand."  The  attempted  arrangement  entL-ely 
fell  through.  Berenice  herself  and  her  son  ("  he  whom  s,ne 
brought  forth,"  marginal  rendering)  suffered  death ;  and  the 
entire  party  concerned  in  the.  transaction  were  discredited 
and  placed  under  a  cloud. 

"  But  out  of  a  branch  of  her  roots  shall  one  stand  up  in  his  estate, 
which  shall  come  with  an  army,  and  shall  enter  into  the  fortress  of 
the  king  of  the  south,  and  shall  deal  against  them,  and  shall  prevail; 
and  shall  also  carry  captives  into  Egypt  their  gods,  with  their  princes, 
and  with  their  precious  vessels  of  silver  and  of  gold;  and  he  shall  con- 
tinue more  years  than  the  king  of  the  north."  (DAN.  xi.  7,  8.) 

There  are  some  errors  of  translation  in  this  passage  which 
require  to  be  removed  before  its  statement  can  be  properly 
compared  with  those  of  profane  historians.  Modern  criticism 
thus  renders  the.  passage  :  §  "  But  a  branch  of  her  roots  shall 
rise  up  in  his  place,  which  shall  come  against  the  host,  and 
enter  into  the  strong  places  of  the  king  of  the  north,  and 
shall  deal  against  them,  and  shall  prevail ;  and  shall  also 
carry  captive  into  Egypt  their  gods,  with  their  images,  and 

*  Heeren,  p.  236;  Smith,  "  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biography," 
vol.  Hi.,  p.  586. 

t  Hieronym.  ed.  Dan.  xl.  6;  Polyb.  v,  18,  §  10;  Athen.  "Deipn." 
ii.,  p.  45.  t  Heeren.  1.  s.  c. 

§  See  the  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  vi.,  pp.  374,  375. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  209 

with  their  precious  vessels  of  silver  and  of  gold,  and  [then] 
for  some  years  he  shall  stand  aloof  from  the  king  of  the 
north."  History  tells  us  that  a  branch  from  the  same  roots 
as  Berenice,  her  brother  Ptolemy  Euergetes,  in  the  year  after 
her  murder  (u.  c.  245),  made  war  upon  Seleucus  II.  (Callini- 
cus),  the  son  of  Antiochus  Theus  and  Laodice,  who  was  im- 
plicated in  the  bloody  deed,  and,  having  invaded  Syria,  made 
himself  master  of  various  "  strong  places "  in  the  country, 
as  especially  of  Seleucia  near  Antioch,  a  most  important- 
city.*  He  "  prevailed  "  in  the  wars  most  completely,  captur- 
ing Antioch,  and  reducing  to  temporary  subjection  the 
whole  of  the  Eastern  provinces — Mesopotamia,  Babylonia, 
Susiana,  Media,  and  Persia.f  He  stated  in  an  inscription 
which  he  set  up  at  Adule,  that  among  the  treasures  which  he 
carried  off  from  Asia  were  holy  relics  (itpa)  removed  from 
Egypt  by  the  Persians,  J  and  no  doubt,  together  with  these, 
he  would,  like  other  conquerors,  include  in  his  booty  the 
"  gods  and  images  "  of  the  defeated  nations.  After  the  war 
had  lasted  four  years,  Euergetes  "  stood  aloof "  from  the 
king  of  the  north,  consenting,  on  account  of  some  internal 
troubles  in  his  own  dominions,  to  conclude  a  truce  with 
Callinicus  for  ten  years. 

"  But  his  sons  shall  be  stirred  up,  and  shall  assemble  a  multitude 
of  great  forces;  and  one  shall  certainly  come,  and  overflow,  and  pass 
through;  then  shall  he  return,  and  be  stirred  up,  even  to  his  fortress. 
And  the  king  of  the  south  shall  be  moved  with  choler,  and  shall  come 
forth  and  fight  with  him,  even  with  the  king  of  the  north  :  and  he 
shall  set  forth  a  great  multitude;  but  the  multitude  shall  be  given  in- 
to his  hand.  And  when  he  hath  taken  away  the  multitude,  his  heart 
shall  be  lifted  up;  and  he  shall  cast  down  many  ten  thousands;  but 
he  shall  not  be  strengthened  by  it."  (DAX.  xi.  10-12.) 

The  construction  of  the  Hebrew  is  such  as  to  render  it 
uncertain,  whose  sons  are  intended  in  the  opening  clause  of 
this  passage,  whether  those  of  the  king  of  the  north  or  of  the 
south.  The  nexus,  however,  of  the  clause  with  those  that 
follow  makes  it  tolerably  clear  that  the  attack  this  time  is 
on  the  part  of  the  northern  monarch,  against  whom  the 
king  of  the  south  "  comes  forth,  moved  with  choler  "  (verse 
11),  anxious  to  repel  what  he  regards  as  an  unprovoked  as- 
sault. Now  Calliuicus  had  two  sons,  who  reigned  one  after 

*  Polyb.,  v.  58,  §  11. 

t  See  the  "Inscription  of  Adule',"  quoted  by  Clinton  ("Fasti 
Hellimci,"  vol.  iii.,  page  333,  note).  .  J  Ibid. 


210  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

the  other — Seleucus  III.  (Ceraunus)  from  B.  c.  226  to  223, 
and  Antiochus  III.  (the  Great)  from  B.  c.  223  to  187.  Of 
these  the  elder,  Seleucus,  is  said  by  Jerome  *  to  have  invaded 
Egypt  in  combination  with  his  brother,  Antiochus,  and  to 
have  waged  a  war  with  Euergetes ;  but  the  silence  of  pro- 
fane historians  throws  some  doubt  on  this  statement.  "  One  " 
of  the  sons,  however,  Antiochus  the  Great,  most  "  cei'tainly," 
"  came,  and  overflowed,  and  passed  through  "  the  territories 
of  Egypt,  attacking  Ptolemy  Philopator,  the  son  of  Euergetes 
with  great  vigor  in  B.  c.  219,  and  in  B.  c.  218  repeatedly  de- 
feating his  forces,  and  conquering  the  greater  part  of  Pales- 
tine, including  Samaria  and  Gilead.f  From  these  conquests 
he  "  returned  "  for  the  winter  to  "  his  fortress  "  of  Ptolema'is,t 
whence  he  made  great  efforts  to  have  everything  in  readi- 
ness for  a  further  attack  upon  his  adversary  in  the  ensuing 
year.  In  the  spring  he  set  forth  on  his  march  southward, 
passed  through  Gaza,  and  encamped  at  Raphia  (now  RefaJi), 
a  small  town  near  the  coast,  on  the  road  to  Egypt.  §  Mean- 
while Philopator,  "  moved  with  choler,"  had  quitted  Alex- 
andria, at  the  head  of  an  army  of  75,000  men,  supported  by 
seventy-three  elephants,  and  had  marched  to  Pelusium, 
whence,  after  resting  a  few  days,  he  proceeded  along  the 
coast  to  Rhinocolura,  and  thence  toward  Raphia,  where  he 
encamped  over  against  the  army  of  Antiochus.  The  Syrian 
forces  were  somewhat  less  numerous  than  his  own,  amount- 
ing to  only  68,000,  but  they  were  stronger  in  cavalry  and  in 
elephants.  After  some  unimportant  skirmishing,  the  two 
hosls  engaged  each  other;  and  though  the  Syrian  right  de- 
feated the  Egyptian  left,  and  the  Asiatic  elephants  of  Antio- 
chus proved  greatly  superior  to  the  African  ones  of  his 
adversary,  yet  the  battle  resulted  in  a  decisive  victory  for 
the  Egyptian,  who  slew  ten  thousand  of  the  enemy,  and  took 
above  four  thousand  prisoners. ||  The  Syrian  "multitude  " 
was  thus  "  given  into  Ptolemy's  hand,"  and  a  portion  of  it 
"  taken  away  "  into  Egypt.  His  victory  naturally  "  lifted 
up  "  Ptolemy's  "  heart ; '"  he  was  greatly  elated,  and  is  said 
after  the  battle  to  have  "  abandoned  himself  to  a  life  of 
licentiousness."  1f  No  real  advantage  resulted  to  him  from 
his  having  "  cast  down  many  ten  thousands ; "  the  Syrian 
kingdom  remained  more  powerful  than  his  own,  and  was 

•  "  Comment,  in  Dan.,"  xi.  10.  t  Polyb..  v.  69-70. 

|  Ibid.,  v.  71,  §  11.  §  Ibid.,  v.  80,  §  4. 

y  Polyb.,  v.  81-80.        t  Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  vi.,  p.  376. 


NOTICES  IN  DA NIEL .  1>  11 

certain  to  revenge  the  defeat  of  Raphia  when  a  favorable 
opportunity  offered. 

"  The  king  of  the  north  shall  return,  and  shall  set  forth  a  multi- 
tude greater  than  the  former,  and  shall  certainly  come  after  certain 
years  with  a  great  army  and  with  much  riches.  And  in  those  times 
shall  there  many  stand  .up  against  the  king  of  the  south;  also  the 
robbers  of  thy  people  shall  exalt  themselves  to  establish  the  vision; 
but  they  shall  fall.  So  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come  and  cast  up 
a  mount  and  take  the  most  fenced  cities,  and  the  arms  of  the  south 
shall  not  withstand,  neither  his  chosen  people,  neither  shall  there  be 
any  strength  to  withstand.  But  he  that  cometh  against  him  shall  do 
according  to  his  own  will,  and  none  shall  stand  before  him ;  and  he 
shall  stand  in  the  glorious  land,  which  by  his  hand  shall  be  consumed. 
He  shall  also  set  his  face  to  enter  with  the  strength  of  his  whole  king- 
dom, and  upright  ones  with  him;  thus  shall  lie  do;  and  he  shall  give 
him  the  daughter  of  women,  corrupting  her^  but  she  shall  not  stand 
on  his  side,  neither  be  for  him."  (DAN.  xi.  13-17.) 

In  B.  c.  204,  thirteen  years  after  the  battle  of  Raphia, 
Antiochus  the  Great  "returned"  to  the  attack  upon  Egypt. 
Having  made  alliance  with  Philip  III.  of  Macedon,*  he  in- 
vaded Caele-Syria  and  Palestine  with  a  great  army,f  and  with 
the  good  will  of  the  inhabitants,  whom  the  cruelties  and  ex- 
actions of  Philopator  had  disgusted,  occupied  the  entire  region 
to  the  borders  of  Egypt — "the  robbers  (rather  "captains") 
of  the  Jewish  people  joining  with  him  to  establish  the  vision." 
A  turn  in  the  war  subjected  these  rebels  to  the  vengeance  of 
Ptolemy,  who  recovered  Jerusalem  in  B.  c.  200,  and  took 
severe  measures  against  the  inhabitants,  t  Two  years  later 
Antiochus  once  more  gathered  his  forces,  and  marched  south- 
ward. One  after  another  the  strongholds  of  Syria  and 
Palestine  fell  into  his  hands.  "  The  arms  of  the  south  "  were 
not  able  to  "  withstand  "  him.§  At  Paulas,  near  the  sources 
of  the  Jordan,  he  entirely  defeated  Seopas,.the  chief  general 
of  the  Egyptian  monarch;  ||  after  which  he  besieged  him  in 
Sidon,  which  he  took,  and  a  little  later  re-took  Jerusalem. 
lie  then  "completely  established  himself  in  Palestine,"  oc- 
cupying the  glorious  land,"  which  was  no  doubt  "  consumed  " 
by  having  to  furnish  supplies  for  his  army.  But  he  did  not 
press  forward  into  Egypt.  He  "set  his  face"  to  establish 

*  Polyb.  xv.  20:  Liv.  xxxi.  11. 

t  Smith,  "  Diet,  of  the  Hible,"  vol.  i.,  p.  74. 

j  Joseph.,  "  Ant.  Jud.,"  xii.  3,  §  3. 

§  Appian.  "Syriaca,"  §  1;  Liv.  xxxiii.  19. 

|i  Polyb.,  xvi.  18,  §  2;  159,  §  ;);  Joseph.  1.  s.  c. 


212  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

"  equal  conditions"  (verse  17,  marginal  rendering).  He  ar, 
ranged  a  marriage  between  his  daughter,  Cleopatra,  and 
Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  who  had  succeeded  his  father,  Philopa- 
tor,  pledging  himself  to  give  over  Caele-Syria  and  Palestine 
to  Egypt  as  her  dowry.*  He  had  no  intention,  however,  of 
fulfilling  this  part  of  the  contract.  The  provinces  were  not 
made  over ;  and  Epypt  was  rather  exasperated  than  amelio- 
rated by  the  transaction.  Cleopatra  herself,  instead  of  main- 
taining her  father's  interests,  opposed  them.  Declining  to 
"  stand  on  his  side,"  or  "  be  for  him,"  she  maintained  her 
husband's  rights,  and  joined  with  him  in  looking  to  Rome 
for  their  vindication  and  establishment. 

*  Polyb.,  xxviii.  17,  §  7;  Appian,  "  Syriaca,"  §  4. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  213 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FUBTHER  NOTICES  OF  EGYPT  IN  DANIEL. 

"  After  this  shall  he  turn  his  face  unto  the  isles,  aiid  shall  take 
many :  but  a  prince  for  his  oVu  behalf  shall  cause  the  reproach  offered 
by  him  to  cease;  without  his  own  reproach  he  shall  cause  it  to  turn 
upon  him.  Then  he  shall  turn  his  face  toward  the  fort  of  his  own 
land;  but  he  shall  stumble  and  fall,  and  not  be  found.  Then  shall 
stand  up  in  his  estate  a  raiser  of  taxes  in  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  ; 
but  within  few  diiys  he  shall  be  destroyed,  neither  in  anger,  nor  in 
battle."  (DANIEL,  ch.  xi.,  verses  JS-20.) 

IN  the  prophetical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
even  in  some  of  the  historical  ones  (Gen.  x.  5 ;  Esth.  x.  1), 
the  expression  translated  "  the  isles "  or  "  the  islands," 
designates  primarily  the  shores  and  isles  of  European  Greece 
— the  "  maritime  tracts  "  which  invited  the  colonist  and  the 
conqueror  to  brave  the  terrors  of  the  deep,  and  journey 
westward  from  Asia  in  search  of  "  fresh  woods  and  pastures 
new  "  Antiochus  the  Great,  shortly  after  concluding  his 
peace  with  Philopator,  undertook  an  aggressive  movement 
in  this  direction.*  Crossing  the  Hellespont  in  B.C.  197,  he 
took  possession  of  the  Chersonese  with  its  city  of  Lysimachia. 
Five  years  later,  having  made  alliance  with  the  (Etolians, 
he  moved  into  central  Greece,  landing  at  Demetrias,  and 
soon  afterwards  making  himself  master  of  Chalcis,  thereby 
throwing  out  a  challenge  to  the  Romans,  which  they  were 
not  slow  to  accept.  Rome  could  not  allow  the  establish- 
ment of  an  Asiatic  power  in  Europe  ;  and  her  "  prince  " 
for  the  time  being,  the  consul  M.  Acilius  Glabrio,  soon 
"  caused  the  reproach  "  which  Antiochus  had  "  offered  "  the 
Romans,  "  to  cease,"  turning  it  back  upon  Antiochus  him- 
self f  by  the  decisive  victory  of  Thermopylae. t  Antiochus 

«  See  Liv.  xxxv.  23,  48:  Polyb.  xviii.  32. 

t  This  seems  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  the  last  clause  of  verse  18. 
(See  "Speaker's  Commentary,"  vol.  vi.,  p.  379.) 
i  Liv.  xxxvi.  18,  19. 


214  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

was  forced  to  quit  Greece  in  haste,  *  and  "  turned  his  face 
toward  the  fort  "  (i.  e.  the  various  strongholds)  "  of  his 
own  land,"  whither  he  reti'eated  in  the  autumn  of  B.  c.  191. 
But  Rome  followed  up  her  advantage.  The  Roman  admiral, 
JEmilius,  swept  the  fleet  of  Antiochus  from  the  sea.f  Her 
generals,  the  two  Scipios,  Asiaticus  and  Africanus,  invaded 
Asia  in  force ;  and  in  B.  c.  190  was  fought  the  great  battle 
of  Magnesia,:}:  which  at  once  and  forever  established  the 
predominance  of  the  Roman  arms  over  those  of  the  Syrian 
kingdom,  and  made  Rome  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  the 
East.  At  Magnesia  Antiochus  "  stumbled  and  fell "  with  a 
fall  from  which  there  was  no  recovery,  either  for  himself  or 
for  his  kingdom.  It  did  not  suit  Rome  at  once  to  enter  into 
possession  ;  but  from  the  date  of  the  Magnesian  defeat  Syria 
lay  at  her  mercy  and  was  practically  her  vassal.  Shortly 
afterwards  (B.  c.  187)  Antiochus  "  was  not  found."  He 
made  an  expedition  into  the  Eastern  provinces, §  to  collect 
money  for  the  payment  of  the  Roman  war  contribution,  and 
never  returned  from  it.  Rumor  said  that  his  exactions 
provoked  a  tumult  in  the  distant  Elymais,  and  that  he  fell 
a  victim  to  the  fury  of  the  plundered  people.  ||  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Seleucus  IV.  (Philopator),  who  seems 
to  be  called  "  a  raiser  of  taxes  "  on  account  of  the  burdens 
which  the  weight  of  the  Roman  indemnity  compelled  him 
to  lay  on  his  subjects,  and  "the  glory  of  the  kingdom  "  in 
derision. 1[  He  was  a  weak  and  undistinguished  monarch, 
whose  short  reign  of  eleven  years  was  wholly  uneventful. 
His  treasurer,  Heliodorus,  murdered  him  treacherously  in 
cold  blood,**  not  having  any  grievance  against  him,  but 
simply  in  the  hope  of  succeeding  to  his  dominions.  Thus  he 
was  "  destroyed,  not  in  anger,  nor  in  battle,"  by  an  ambi- 
tious subject. 

"  And  in  his  estate  shall  stand  up  a  vile  person,  to  whom  they  shall 
not  give  the  honor  of  the  kingdom:  but  he  shall  come  in  peaceably, 
and  obtain  the  kingdom  by  flatteries.  And  with  the  arms  of  a  flood 

*  Ibid.,  xxxvi.  21.  t  Ibid.,  xxxvii.  30. 

J  Polyb.  xxi.  13;  xxii.  8;  Liv.  xxxvii.  42;  Appian,  "  Syriaca," 
§  33-37. 

§  Prophyr.  ap.  Euseb.  ''Chron.  Can."  I.  40,  §  12. 

II  Justin,  xxxii.  2;  Strab.  xvi.,  p.  744. 

IT  Our  version  gives  "  in  the  glory  of  the  kingdom;"  but  the  word 
"  in  "  is  wanting  in  the  original. 
**  Appian.  "  Syriaca,"  §  45. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  215 

shall  they  be  overflown  before  him;  yea,  also  the  prince  of  the  cove- 
nant. And  after  the  league  made  with  him  he  shall  work  deceitfully; 
for  he  shall  come  up,  and  shall  become  strong  with  a  small  people. 
He  shall  enter  peaceably  even  upon  the  fattest  places  of  the  province; 
and  he  shall  do  that  which  his  fathers  have  not  done,  nor  his  fathers' 
fathers:  he  shall  scatter  among  them  the  prey,  and  spoil,  and  riches; 
yea,  and  he  shall  forecast  his  devices  against  the  strongholds,  even 
for  a  time,"  (DAN.  xi.  21-24.) 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who  succeeded  his  brother,  Seleu- 
cus  IV.,  is  almost  certainly  intended  by  the  "  vile  person  " 
of  this  passage.  Pie  was  a  man  of  an  extraordinary  char- 
acter. Dean  Stanley  calls  him  one  of  those  strange  characters 
in  whom  an  eccentricity  touching  insanity  on  the  left  and 
genius  on  the  right  combined  with  absolute  power  and  law- 
less passion  to  produce  a  portentous  result,  thus  bearing 
out  the  two  names  by  which  he  was  known — Epiphanes — 
"the  Brilliant," and  Epimanes — "the  Madman."*  He  was 
"  a  fantastic  creature,  without  dignity  or  self-control,  who 
caricatured  the  manners  and  dress  of  the  august  Roman 
magistrates,  startled  young  revelers  by  bursting  in  on  them 
with  pipe  and  horn,  tumbled  with  the  bathers  on  the  slippery 
marble  pavement,  and  in  the  procession  which  he  organized 
at  Daphne,  appeared  riding  in  and  out  on  a  hack  pony, 
playing  the  part  of  chief  waiter,  mountebank,  and  jester."  f 
He  was  not  the  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne  ;  and  "  the 
honor  of  the  kingdom  "  was  in  no  way  formally  conferred  on 
him.  Nor  did  he  establish  himself  by  force  of  arms.  On 
the  contrary,  he  "  came  in  peaceably,"  under  the  auspices 
of  Eumenes  of  Pergamos,t  and  "  obtained  the  kingdom  "  by 
bribes,  cajolery,  and  "  flatteries."  He  courted  the  favor  of 
the  Syrian  lower  classes,  of  Rome,  and  of  the  Hellenizing 
party  among  the  Jews.  At  a  later  date  "  with  the  arms  of 
a  flood  "  he  "  overflowed,"  and  carried  all  before  him,  sweej>- 
ing  through  Ca4e-Syria  and  Palestine  into  Egypt,§  and 
receiving  the  submission  of  Jason,  ||  the  High-Priest  of  the 
Jews,  or  "  prince  of  the  covenant,"  who  "  made  a  league  " 
with  him,  engaging  to  support  his  interests  in  Judiea,  and 
to  pay  him  an  annual  tribute  of  440  silver  talents.  Anti- 
ochus, however,  after  this  league,  "  worked  deceitfully," 
transferring  the  High  Priesthood  from  Jason  to  his  brother 

*  Stanley,  "  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church,"  Am.  Ed.,  vol.  iii., 
p.  254. 

t  Ibid.  t  Appian,  1.  s.  c. 

§  1  Mac.  i.  17;  Appian,  "Syriaca,"  §  66.         II  2  Mac.  iv.  7-10. 


216  EGYPT  AND  BABYLON. 

Menelaus  on  receipt  of  a  bribe,  and  forcing  Jason  to  become 
a  fugitive  from  his  country.*  After  this  he  was  able, 
through  the  support  of  Menelaus,  to  "  become  strong  "  in 
Palestine,  without  maintaining  there  more  than  a  "  small  " 
army.  He  entered  peaceably  upon  the  "  fattest  places  of 
the  province,"  his  authority  being  generally  recognized 
throughout  the  fertile  tract  between  Syria  Proper  and 
Egypt,  though  it  belonged  of  right  to  Ptolemy.  That  he 
maintained  his  influence  in  the  tract  by  means  of  a  lavish 
expenditure  of  money,  though  not  distinctly  stated  by  pro- 
'  fane  historians,  is  probable  enough,  since  it  was  certainly 
the  method  by  which  he  soon  afterwards  maintained  it  in 
Egypt.f 

"  And  he  shall  stir  up  his  power  and  his  courage  against  the  king 
of  the  south  with  a  great  army;  and  the  king  of  the  south  shall  be 
stirred  up  to  battle  with  a  very  great  and  mighty  army;  but  he  shall 
not  stand;  for  they  shall  forecast  devices  against  him.  Yea,  they  that 
feed  of  the  portion  of  his  meat  shall  destroy  him.  and  his  army  shall 
overflow;  and  many  shall  fall  down  slain.  And  both  these  kings' 
hearts  shall  be  to  do  mischief,  and  they  shall  speak  lies  at  one  table; 
but  it  shall  not  prosper;  for  yet  the  end  shall  be  al  the  time  appoint- 
ed." (DAN.  xi.  25-27.) 

Epiphanes  invaded  Egypt  several  times  during  the 
earlier  portion  of  his  reign.  The  prophetic  vision  vouch- 
safed to  Daniel  did  not  very  clearly  distinguish  between 
the  several  attacks.  If  the  present  passage  is  to  be  assigned 
to  any  particular  year,  it  must  be  to  i?.  c,  171,  when  Epiph- 
anes "  entered  Egypt  with  a  great  multitude,  with  chariots, 
and  elephants,  and  'horsemen,  and  with  a  great  navy  " 
(1  Mac.  i.  17).  Egypt  was  then  under  the  sovereignty  of 
Ptolemy  VI.  (Philometor),  who,  however,  was  still  a  minor, 
under  the  tutelage  of  Eulojus  and  Lennseus,  who  received 
the  royal  authority  as  regents. t  These  chiefs  collected  as 
large  a  force  as  they  could  to  resist  the  Assyrian  monarch  ; 
but  the  result  of  the  battle  which  took  place  near  Pelusium,§ 
was  the  complete  defeat  of  the  Egyptians,  and  the  tempo- 
rary subjection  of  the  larger  part  of  Egypt  to  the  authority 
of  Antiochus.  Ptolemy  Philometor  fell  into  his  enemy's 
hands,  but  was  honorably  treated,  the  policy  of  Antiochus 
being  to  cajole  Philometor  into  believing  that  he  was  his 

•  2  Mac.  iv.  23-26.  t  Polyb.  xxviii.  17. 

|  Polyb.  xxviii.  17;  Hieronym.  ed.  Dan.  xi. 
§  Liv.  xliv.  1U  ;  1'olyb.  xxvii.  17. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  217 

friend,  bent  on  supporting  his  authority  against  that  of  his 
brother,  Physcon,  who  had  a  strong  party  in  the  country, 
especially  at  Alexandria.  We  have  no  full  account,  in  any 
profane  writer,  of  the  history  of  the  period  ;  but  it  is  quite 
possible  that  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Pelusium  was  owing  to 
treachery  on  the  part  of  some  of  Philometor's  ministers 
(verse  26)  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  in  the  intercourse  between 
him  and  Epiphanes  each  king  was  trying  to  deceive  and 
over-reach  the  other  (verse  27).  Nothing  decisive  was 
accomplished,  however,  as  yet ;  "  the  end  "  was  reserved  for 
"  the  time  apointed  "  (ibid.). 

"Then  shall  he  return  into  his  land  with  great  riches;  and  his 
heart  shall  be  against  the  holy  covenant;  and  he  shall  do  exploits; 
and  return  to  his  own  land.  At  the  time  appointed  he  shall  return, 
and  come  toward  the  south;  but  it  shall  not  be  as  the  former,  or  as 
the  latter"  (rather  "  it  shall  not  be  at  the  latter  time  as  the  former"). 
'•  For  the  ships  of  Chittim  shall  come  against  him;  therefore  he  shall 
be  grieved  and  return,  and  have  indignation  against  the  holy  cov- 
enant. (DAK.  xi.  28-30. ) 

That  Epiphanes  on  his  first  invasion  of  Egypt  obtained 
a  considerable  booty,  which  he  carried  off  into  Syria,  is  con- 
firmed by  the  First  Book  of  Maccabees  (i.  19).  That  on  his 
return,  or  soon  after,  his  "heart  was  against  the  holy  cove- 
nant "  appears  both  from  1  Mac.  i.  20-24  and  from  2  Mac.  v. 
11-21.  That  after  one  or  two  years,  he  "returned,  and  once 
more  came  toward  the  south,"  is  also  certain,  as  likewise 
that  he  did  not  fare  this  time  so  well  as  previously,  since, 
though  success  attended  his  arms,  he  wras  "  compelled  by  the 
ambassadors  of  various  northern  kingdoms,"  supported  by 
the  "  ships  of  Chittim  " — *'.  e.,  the  fleets  of  Rome  and  Rhodes, 
to  surrender  against  his  will  almost  all  the  advantages  that 
he  had  gained.  *  This  time  he  returned  from  Egypt  in  ex- 
treme ill  temper,  and  vented  his  spleen  on  the  Jews  by 
renewed  attacks  and  oppressions. 

"  And  at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  the.  king  of  the  south  push  at 
him;  and  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against  him,"  (i.e.,  against 
the  king  of  the  south,) '' like  a  whirlwind,  with  chariots,  and  with 
horsemen,  and  with  many  ships,  and  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries, 
and  shall  overflow  and  pass  over.  And  he  shall  enter  also  into  the 
glorious  land,  and  many  countries  shall  be  overthrown  ;  but  these 
shall  escape  out  of  his  hand,  even  Edom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of 
the  children  of  Ammon.  He  shall  stretch  forth  also  his  hand  upon 

*  Ewald,  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  vol.  v.,  p.  2D7. 


218  EGYPT  AND  BA 13 YL O.V. 

the  countries;  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape.  But  he  shall 
have  power  over  the  treasures  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and  over  all  the 
precious  things  of  Egypt;  and  the  Libyans  and  the  Ethiopians  shall 
be  at  his  steps.  But  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the  north  shall 
trouble  him;  therefore  shall  he  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  destroy, 
and  utterly  to  make  away  many.  And  he  shall  plant  the  tabernacle 
of  his  palace  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain:  yet  he 
shall  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him."  (DAJf.  xi.  40-45;. 

The  closing  scene  of  the  war  between  the  kings  of  the 
north  and  of  the  south — Epiphanes  and  the  brothers  Philo- 
nietor  and  Physcon — came  in  B.  c.  168.  Epiphanes  having 
withdrawn  into  Syria  for  the  winter,  leaving  his  supposed 
ally,  Philometor,  at  Memphis,  and  his  open  enemy,  Physcon, 
in  Alexandria,  was  staggered  by  tho  information,  that,  dur- 
ing his  absence,  the  hostile  brothers  had  made  up  their  dif- 
ferences, and  that  Physcon  had  agreed  to  receive  Philometor 
into  Alexandria,*  at  which  place  the  reconciled  enemies  were 
now  holding  their  courts  conjointly.  An  embassy,  which 
met  Epiphanes,  at  Rhinocolura,  politely  suggested  to  him, 
that  the  end  for  which  he  had  been  waging  war — the  estab- 
lishment of  Philometor' s  authority—  was  accomplished,  and 
that  nothing  remained  for  him  but  to  sheath  his  sword  and 
return  home.  This  was  felt  by  Antiochus  as  a  deadly  blow 
struck  at  his  schemes — a  "  push  "  on  the  part  of  the  "  king 
of  the  south,"  which  required  to  be  met  by  the  promptest 
and  most  energetic  measures.  He  at  once  broke  up  his  camp, 
and  marched  into  Egypt  as  an  open  enemy.  With  the  speed 
of  a  "  whirlwind,"  he  advanced  upon  Pelusium,  "  with  char- 
iots, and  with  horsemen,  and  with  many  ships  "  (verse  40)  ; 
thence,  in  a  more  leisurely  fashion,  he  proceeded  to  march 
upon  Alexandria.  Egypt  generally  submitted  to  him.  The 
"  treasures  of  gold  and  silver,"  and  "  all  the  precious  things 
of  Egypt  "  were  placed  at  his  disposal  by  the  inhabitants — 
contingents  of  Egyptian  troops  were  pressed  into  his  service, f 
and  "the  Libyans  and  the  Ethiopians,"  long  employed  as 
auxiliaries  by  ihemonarchs  of  Egypt,  whether  native  or  for- 
eign, were  (as  a  matter  of  course)  "  at  his  steps  "  (verse  43). 
He  was  drawing  near  Alexandria  with  the  intention  of  renew- 
ing the  siege,  and  with  an  almost  certain  prospect  of  re- 
ducing the  place  within  a  few  months,  when  an  unexpected 
obstacle  was  interposed.  The  prophetic  vision  speaks  of 
"  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the  north."  The  "  tidings  " 

*  Llvy,  xlv.  11.  \  Ibid.,  xlv.  12. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  219 

told  of  the  near  approach  of  a  small  body  of  Romans.  These 
proved  to  be  ambassadors.  At  their  head  was  a  man,  who 
has  left  an  imperishable  name  in  history,  C.  Popillius  Loenas. 
This  bold  and  haughty  envoy,  approaching  with  his  small 
retinue,  the  master  of  countless  legion  held  out  to  him  a 
small  tablet,  containing  a  short  senatorial  decree.  "  Read 
this,"  he  said,  "at  once."  The  cautious  Greek  cast  his  eye 
over  the  document,  and  perceived  that  it  was  a  positive  com- 
mand to  him  to  desist  from  hostilities  against  those  who  were 
"the  friends  of  the  Roman  people.''  Unwilling  to  seethe 
prize  of  victory  snatched  from  his  grasp  at  the  moment  of 
success,  and  hoping  to  temporize,  Antiochus  replied,  that  he 
would  consult  his  friends  on  the  senatorial  proposals  and  let 
the  envoys  have  an  answer.  Popillius  had  a  wand  in  his 
hand,  the  emblem  of  the  ambassadorial  office.  Hastily  tracing 
with  it  a  circle  on  the  sand  round  Antiochus,  "  Consult,"  he 
said,  "and  give  your  answer  before  you  overstep  this  line." 
The  Syrian  monarch  was  so  astonished  and  so  dismayed  that 
he  replied,  with  the  utmost  meekness,  "  I  will  do  as  the 
Senate  decrees."  *  Thus  were  baffled  and  confounded  the 
ambitious  designs  of  the  "  great  king,"  who  regarded  him- 
self as  the  successor  of  Cyrus,  Darius,  and  Xerxes,  and  the 
living  representative  of  Alexander  the  Great.  A  brief 
sentence  uttered  by  a  Roman  civilian  brought  a  great  war 
to  an  end  and  prohibited  its  renewal. 

Epiphanes  retired  from  Egypt  in  greater  dudgeon  than 
ever,  "  deeply  grieved  and  groaning  in  spirit,"  as  Polybius 
says,f  and  sought  a  species  of  consolation  in  increased  seve- 
rity towards  the  Jews.  It  was  now  that  he  accomplished 
his  last  acts  of  impiety  and  cruelty  upon  that  unfortunate 
people,  sending  against  them  "Apollonius,  that  detestable 
ringleader,  with  an  army  of  two  and  twenty  thousand,  com- 
manding him  to  slay  all  those  who  were  in  their  best  age, 
and  to  sell  the  women  and  the  younger  sort  "  ('2  Mac.  v.  24), 
and  soon  afterwards  polluting  the  temple  in  Jerusalem,  and 
wholly  forbidding  the  exercise  of  the  Jewish  religion.  It  was 
this  issue  to  the  wars  between  the  "  kings  of  the  north  and  of 
the  south  "  that  gave  to  them  their  great  importance  in  the 
theocratic  history,  and  rendered  them  a  fitting  subject  for  so 
long  a  prophecy  as  that  which  we  have  been  considering. 

*  Polyb.  -xxix.  11,  §  1-6;  Liv.  xlv.  12. 

*  uoj.EVo      iv  nai  auvuv  xxix.  11,  §  8. 


220  EGYPT  A ND  BA B TL ON. 

Their  entire  result  was,  to  bring  out,  more  strongly  than  it 
had  ever  been  brought  out  before,  the  Roman  influence  over 
the  affairs  of  the  East,  to  intensify  the  antagonism  between 
Rome  and  Syria,  to  place  Egypt  under  a  permanent  Roman 
protectorate,  and  make  Rome  the  natural  ally  and  defender 
of  every  petty  nationality  which  had  any  inclination  to  assei't 
itself  against  Syria,  and  could  do  so  with  the  least  hope  of 
success.  The  close  connection  between  the  Roman  and  Jew- 
ish people,  which,  beginning  with  the  embassy  of  Judas  Mac- 
cabasus  in  B.  c.  161  (1  Mac.  viii.  17-32)  terminated  in  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  in  A.  D.  70,  was  the  con- 
sequence of  the  Syro-Egyptian  struggle,  and  especially  of 
the  war  between  Epiphanes  and  Philometor,  which  there- 
fore  worthily  occupies  a  very  considerable  space  in  the  pro- 
phetical synopsis  of  Daniel. 

The  ultimate  fates  of  Egypt  and  Babylon,  as  represented 
to  us  in  Scripture,  offer  a  remarkable  contrast.  Babylon  is 
to  "  become  heaps  "  (Jer.  li.  37) ;  to  be  "  wholly  desolate  " 
(ib.  1.  13)  ;  "  not  to  be  inhabited  "  (Isa.  xiii.  20)  Egypt  is  to 
be  a  "  base  kingdom "  (Ezek.  xxix.  14)  "  the  basest  of  the 
kingdoms  "  (ib.  verse  15)  ;  but  still  to  remain  a  kingdom. 
It  is  not  "  to  exalt  itself  any  more  above  the  nations  ; "  it  is 
to  be  "  deminished  "  it  is  no  more  to  have  "  any  rule  over 
the  nations  "  (ib.),  or  to  be  "  the  confidence  of  the  house  of 
Israel."  But  it  is  to  maintain  a  certain  position  among  the 
powers  of  the  earth,  a  certain  separateness,  a  certain  low  con- 
sideration. Now  this  is  exactly  what  has  been  the  general 
position  of  Egypt  from  her  conquest  by  Cambyses  to  the  pres- 
ent day.  Under  the  Persians  she  was  a  sort  of  outlying 
kingdom,  rather  than  an  ordinary  satrapy.  She  frequently 
revolted  and  established  a  temporary  independence,  but  was 
soon  coerced  into  subjection.  During  the  earlier  portion  of 
the  Ptolemaic  period,  she  rose  to  considerable  influence  and 
prosperity ;  but  still  she  was  never  more  than  a  second-rate 
power.  Svria  always,  and  Macedonia  sometimes,  was  supe- 
rior to  her  in  extent  of  dominion,  power  and  importance  (Dan. 
xi.  5).  Rome  made  her  a  province,  but  a  province  with  a 
certain  separateness,  under  regulations  which  were  peculiar.* 
Under  the  Mohammedans,  whether  Arabs,  Saracens  or  Turks, 
she  has  still  for  the  most  part  been  secondary,  either  an 
actual  dependency  on  some  greater  state,  or  at  any  rate  over- 

•  Tacit  "  Ann."  ii.  59. 


NOTICES  IN  DANIEL.  221 

shadowed  by  rivals  of  superior  dignity.  A  veil  hangs  over 
the  future  ;  but,  so  far  as  human  sagacity  can  forecast,  there 
seems  to  be  little  likelihood  of  any  vital  change  in  her  posi- 
tion. With  peculiar  characteristics  and  an  isolated  position, 
she  must  almost  of  necessity  maintain  her  separate  and  dis- 
tinct individuality,  even  though  she  become  a  dependency  on 
a  European  power.  On  the  other  hand,  she  has  exhibited 
under  recent  circumstances  no  elements  of  greatness,  and 
remains  emphatically  "  a  base  kingdom  " — if  not  even  "  the 
basest  of  the  kingdoms."  there  seems  to  be  no  elements 
out  of  which  her  revival  and  reconstitution  as  a  great  king- 
dom could  be  possible. 


THE    EWD. 


INDEX. 


Abydenus,  Greek  historian 12 

Amilius,  Roman  general 214 

defeat  of  Antiochus 214 

Agriculture  of  Babylon 96 

Ahura-Mazda,  Medo-Persian  god 94 

Akkadian  language 34 

Akkerkuf ,  remarkable  ruin 9 

Alexander  the  Great,  despotism  of 206 

division  of  his  dominions .• 206 

Amasis,  Egyptian  monarch 6(3 

Amestris,  wife  of  Xerxes Q3 

Amram,  mound  of, 52 

Anepu,  identity  witli  Potiphar 120 

Anna,  illustrious  scribe 119 

Antiochus  II  (Theus,) 208 

Antiochus  the  Great,  invasion  of  Egypt 210 

invades  Csele-Syria  and  Palestine 211 

concludes  peace  with  Philopator 212 

aggressive  movement  toward  Greece 213 

death 214 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  character 215 

succeeds  Seleucus  IV 215 

invades  Egypt , 216 

severity  toward  the  Jetfs —  219 

Apepi,  the  last  shepherd  king 125 

monotheistic  impulse 127 

Apollonius,  leader  in  army  of  Antiochus 219 

proceeds  against  the  Jews 219 

Apries,  Egyptian  monarch 64 

Pharaoh  of  Egypt 200 

ally  of  Zcdekiah 200 

reverses  and  ni  utiny 202 

Arabia,  spices  of 72 

Aromatics  in  worship  of  gods 117 

Ashdod  revolts  from  Assyria 190 

Asia,  Western,  idolatry 104 

Asses,  use  in  Egypt... 124 

Asshur-bani-pal,  Assyrian  monarch 183 

tyranny  and  cruelty 189 

Assyria,  relations  with  Babylonia 16 

growing  ]x>wer 179 

struggle  with  Egypt  and  Ethiopia 191 

Assyrian  Court,  transfer  to  Babylon 18 

treatment  of  captives 19 

Empire,  ond  in  7th  cent  B.C 21 

conquests  of  Egypt 189 


INDEX.  223 

Assyrians,  early  contact  with  Greeks 38 

Astibaras,   Median  king 24 

babel,  origin  of  name 11 

tower  of  native  records 12 

Babylon,  subjection  to  Eiam 13 

first  notice  in  Kings 15 

temple  of  Merodach 23 

rising  power 27 

astronomical  calendar 33 

learned  class 34 

governmental  system 3J 

intercourse  with  Greeks 39 

divine  origin  of  kings 39 

enormous  size ; 50 

the  "  hanging  gardens  " 54 

commercial   character.  .< 69 

building — stone  used..  70 

reign  of  Darius 88 

great  wealth 96 

scattered  Scripture  notices 96 

great  size 98 

destruction  prophesied 105 

ultimate  fate. . . . ." •. : 220 

Babylonia,  ancient  cities 7 

early  cities 8 

relations  toward   Syria 16 

importation  of  metals 71 

cultivation  of  the  vine 72 

exports 73 

grain  products 75 

laud  and  water  traffic 75-78 

liberty  allowed  to  women 102 

free  use  of  wine  .  103 

Babylonian  kingdom,  early 8 

documents,  primitive 10 

religion 22 

expeditions  against  Jerusalem '.  24 

kingdom,  civil  organization 36 

seals 71 

court,  general  character 100 

punishments 101 

Bata,  identity  with  Joseph 120 

Bel  Merodach,  great  temples  of [...1....... '. '.  55 

Belshazzar,  identity  of 79 

rewards  Daniel ! ','. !."".'"!.'!!!.'"].'!!!.'"!  86 

defence  of  Babylon 8(5 

Belus,  son  of  Libya  (or  Africa) 10 

Berenice,  daughter  of  Ptolemy  II 208 

Berosus,  account  of  Nebuchadnezzar 197 

Birs-Nimrud 9 

Bocchoris,  successor  of  Taf reklit 187 

Boken-en-ranf.     SEE  Bocchoris. 

Bread,  Egyptian  term  for  food 164 

Brick-making  in  Egypt 147 

Brugsch,  Dr .,  Egyptologist 151 

views  of  Exodus 151 

C.  Popilins  Lcenas,  Roman  envoy 219 

presents  decree  to  Antiochns 219 

Callinicus.    SEK  Seleucus  II 209 


224  INDEX. 

Cambyses  marries  his  sister 92 

Camels  in  the  desert 117 

Carchemish,  decisive  battle  of 26,196 

Carian  mercenaries  in  Egyptian  service  „ .  185 

Carpets  of  Babylon 74 

Chabas,  M.,  quoted 144 

Chaldsean,  application  of  term 34 

Chariot  force  of  Egyptians 148 

Cleopatra,  marriage  with  Ptolemy  212 

Clothing  worn  by  Babylonians .  72 

Cyrus,  attack  upon  Babylon 82 

assumes  Babylonian  Sovereignty 88 

connection  with  Darius 89 

Daniel,  account  of  Babylon 32 

interprets  writing  upon  the  wall 86 

Book  of,  authenticity 204 

Darius  the  Median 88 

etymology  of  the  name 89 

trammeled  by  Medo-Persian  law 93 

Ebony  imported  by  Babylon 72 

Egypt  fails  to  recover  Asiatic  dominion 27 

a  great  campaign  in 63 

invaded  from  the  north 65 

notices  in  Genesis 113 

agricultural  products ; 116 

domesticated  animals 116 

state-granaries 116 

traffic  in  slaves 118 

in  time  of  Joseph 123 

as  described  in  Genesis 124 

shepherd  kings 125 

residence  oi"  pyramid  kings 126 

obelisk  and  Fayoum  period 126 

introduction  of  the  horse 127 

in  the  time  of  Joseph 128 

in  Abraham's  time 129 

notices  in  Exodus 132 

oppression  and  exodus  of  Israelites 132 

number  of  Israelites 135 

employment  of  forced  labor 144 

construction  of  store-cities 146 

political  effect  of  the  Exodus 149 

accord  between  Scripture  and  fact 159 

climate 159 

cultivated  products 160 

abundance  of  water 168 

agricultural  customs 165 

cultivation  of  fruit 166 

stork-raising 1(>6 

matrimonial  alliances  with  Ethiopia 169 

refuge  for  political  exiles 171 

menaced  by  Western  Asia 180 

series  of  civil  wars 187.188 

prophecies  of  Daniel 205 

and  Syria,  matrimonial  alliance 208 

temporary  subjection  to  Antiochus 216 

ultimate  fate  220 

Egyptian  Monarchy,  antiquity 115 

reception  of  foreigners 115 


INDEX.  225 

noble  life  of 119 

women,  licentiousness 119 

monarehs,  native,  jealousy 129 

tradition  of  the  Exodus 137 

Egyptians,  ethnology  of 143 

military  organization  in  Pharaoh's  time 147 

Elamitic  conquest  of  Babylon 13 

Eltekeh,  battle  of,  (B.  C/701) 119 

Embalming  among  Egyptians 117 

Enna.    SEE  Anna. 

Epiphanes.    SEE  Antiochns  Epiphanes 216 

Ezar-haddon-Assy  rian  monarch , 189 

policy  toward  Babylonia 18 

character  and  rule 20 

Ethiopia,  matrimonial  alliances  with  Egypt 616 

Ethiopian  primitive  identity  with  Egyptians 134 

dynasty  ends  in  Egypt 183 

Eunuchs  at  Babylonian  court 37 

Evil-Merodach,  son  of  Nebuchadnezzar 29 

Exodus,  date  of 133 

geographical  problems 150 

Ezekiel,  prophecies  of 63 

Fish,  abundant  in  Egypt 164 

Flax  for  manufacture 161 

Furnaces  used  by  Egyptians 162 

Gaza,  city  in  Syria 199 

Genesis,  notices  of  Egypt 113 

Gerrha,  Babylonian  settlement 78 

Gezer,  conquest  by  Pharaoh 170 

Goshen,  eastern  portion  of  Delta ""."!.".'."!.".'!'.!."."".  128 

"the  land  of  Rameses" "!!."!.".""..!!."!!!.  131 

Greece  invaded  by  Autiochus '. 213 

Greek  mercenaries  in  Egyptian  service 185 

Greeks  in  Babylon 39 

Hebrews,  identity  with  the  Aperu. .  145 

Hezekiah,  miraculous  deliverance 192 

alarmed  at  advances  of  Sennacherib 192 

Hieroduli,  sacred  slaves 1 18 

Hittites,  masters  of  Syria 138 

Hor,  restoration  of  temple  of  Kueph 202 

Horses  in  Egypt 124-127 

Hoshea  seeks  aid  of  Shabalc 178 

Hyksos,  an  Asiatic  people 123 

period,  religious  views 126 

monarchs,  residence 126 

Inscription,  Egyptian,  in  the  Louvre 64 

Inscriptions  of  Nebuchadnezzar 64-66 

Isaiah,  mission  of 186 

prophecies  regarding  Egypt 186 

Israelites,  oppression  and  exodus " 

ordinary  food ••••  163 

Jacob,  family  and  dependants 130 

Jason,  High  Priest  of  the  Jews 215 

submission  to  Antiochus 215 

Jeremiah  describes  battle  of  Carchemish 2tt 

disarrangement  of  prophecies 195 

Jeroboam's  flight  to  Shishak 171 

Jerusalem,  Babylonian  expeditions  against 

destruction  by  Babylonians 27 


226  INDEX. 

Jews,  position  in  Banylon 33 

Joseph,  time  of  visit  to  Egypt 123 

history  of 130 

Josephtts,  account  of  Nebuchadnezzar 44 

Kasr  mound 53 

Kathenotheism  defined 44 

Kadytis,  city  in  Syria.     SEE  Gaza 

Khetam,  Egyptian  term  for  fortress 153 

Klmfu  (Cheops)  builder  of  great  pyramid 164 

Klunzinger,  naturalist,  quoted 156 

Leuormaut,  M.,  account  of  Menephthah 142 

Libyan  war,  monument  account 143 

Magdolum.     SEE  Megiddo 185 

Magic  in  Babylon  and  Assyria 33 

Magicians  in  Babylon 34 

Magnesia,  battle  of  (B.  C.  190) 214 

Makhir,  dream  deity  of  Assyrians 35 

Manasseh,  capture  and  reinstatement 18 

Manetho,  tradition  of  the  Exodus 137 

Manufactures  of  Babylon 73 

Medo-Persian  government 39 

law,  inviolability 92 

religion 94 

Megiddo,  battle  of 185 

Memnon,  King  of  Ethiopia 10 

Menephthah  I,  Pharaoh  of  Exodus 140 

Menzaleh,  lake  in  Egypt 153 

Merodach-Baladau,  reign  of 16 

exile  and  death 16 

records  of  Assyrian  monuments 17 

alliance  with  Hezekiah 17 

Mesopotamia,  geographical  position 7 

Migdol,  generic  for  watch-tower 155 

Mills  for  grinding  grain 162 

Mizraim,  origin  of  name 113 

Monotheism  in  Egypt 126 

"  Mummy  wheat " 162 

M  usic  at  Babylonia  court 33 

Musical  instruments  in  Babylon 37 

"  Nabathrean  Agriculture" 9 

Nabonidus,  dream  of 35 

deserts  his  capital 82 

Nanarus,  the  story  of 37 

Nebuchadnezzar,  reign  of 21 

chronological  discrepancies 21 

expedition  against  the  Jews 21-22 

holy  vessels  at  Jerusalem 22 

his  exceptional  religion  - 22 

temple  at  Babylon 23 

"Standard  Inscription  " 23 

expedition  against  Jehoiakim 24 

conflict  with  Necho 26 

capture  of  Jewish  people -8 

descendants  of 30 

successors  of  -''0 

character  of  liis  court 315 

character 41-41) 

mixed  character  of  religion 43-46 

constructive  works 68 


INDEX.  227 

siege  of  Tyre 61-04 

wars G6-tJ9 

invasion  of  Egypt 200 

Necno,  king  of  Egypt 25 

detaches  Syria  from  Babylonia 185 

Nekn  II,  sou  of  Psamatik  I 184 

leads  forces  into  Palestine 184 

Nes-Hor,  Egyptian  official 64 

Nile,  middle,  inhabitants  of 10 

valley,   rainfall 160 

water  of 163 

Nimrod,  Babylonian  monarch t 7 

Cushite  origin 7-10 

identity  of 9 

Nineveh,  the  Assyrian  capital 18 

Obelisk  period,  monarchs  of 12ti 

Oneion,  temple  of 194 

Onias  seeks  refuge  with  Ptolemy  Philometor 193 

Ornaments,  personal 161 

Palestine  and  Syria,  commercial  relations 170 

Parsondas,  story  of 100 

Pelusium,  battle  of 216 

Pentateuch,  genealogies 134 

Per-ao,  title  of  Egyptian  monarch 115 

Persians,  royal  judges 92 

Pharaoh  of  Joseph, "the 125 

of  the  Exodus,  character  of 141 

Pharaoh-Xeeho,  SEE  Neku  11. 

Philopator  defence  against  Antiochus 210 

Physcon,  brother  of  Philometor 217 

PianUhi-Merammon,  inscription  of 187 

Piahairoth,  meaning  and  location  154-158 

Pithom,  ancient  Egyptian  city 147 

Polyhistor,  Alexander,  Greek  writer 12 

Prophecies  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezeltiel 60 

Psamatik  I.  king  of  Egypt 183 

Ptolemy  succeeds  Alexander  in  Egypt 207 

Ptolemy  Euergetes,  war  upon  Seleucus  II 209 

Punt,  Expedition  to 118 

Pyramid  kings  of  Egypt 126 

"  Rameses  the  Great " 137-139 

constructive  works 139 

employment  of  forced  labor 139-144 

Rameses.  geographical  position 152 

Kaphia(Refah),  Syrian  defeat  at 210 

Roman  protectorate  over  Egypt 220 

Rome  resents  Autiochus's  invanion  of  Greece 213 

demands  withdrawal  of  Antioclius  from  Egypt 219 

Sahr-el-Nimrud  9 

Saneha,  the  story  of 130 

Sargon,  king  of  Assyria 190 

Saul-Mngina,  punishment  of 101 

Scopas,  Egyptian  general 221 

Seleucus,  dominion  of 207 

Seleucus  II.  war  with  Ptolemy  Euergetes 209 

Seleucus  IV,  son  of  Antiochus 214 

Sennacherib,  recovery  of  Babylon 16 

expedition  into  Palestine 181 

Serbonis,  Lake 155 


228  INDEX. 

Seti  I,  Egyptian  monarch 138 

war  with  Turanian  and  Semitic  races 138 

Seven  Spheres,  restoration 48 

Sheshonk  I,  founder  of  Bubastite  line 172 

Palestinian  expedition 172 

addition  to  Great  Temple  of  Karnak! '. 173 

Shinar,  geographical  position 

Shora,  celebrated  Egyptian  plant 156 

Slaves,  Egyptian  traffic 118 

value  of 118 

Spices  imported  by  Babylonia 72 

Store-cities,  construction  of 146 

Storms,  severe,  in  Egypt 160 

Succoth,  rendezvous  of  Israelites 152 

Superstition  of  Babylonia  Kings 48 

Susiania,  the  ancient 10 

"  Sutech,"  god  of  Apepi 126 

Syria,  Egyptian  expeditions 168 

commercial  relations  with  Palestine 170 

submission  to  Neko 196 

and  Egypt,  matrimonial  alliance 208 

Syro-Egyptian  struggle 216 

Tafuekht,  prince  of  Sais 187 

sieges  in  Lower  Egypt 187 

Tahark  or  Tahrak,  SEE  Tirhakah 

Tanis,  ancient  Egyptian  town 126 

Tel-el-Maskoutah,   ancient  city  at 146 

Tel-Nimrud.     SEE  Akkerkuf 

"The  Two  Brothers  "a  story 119 

Thermopylae,  battle  of 213 

Thukut,  an  Egyptian  district 152 

Transportation  of  conquered  nations 28 

Turhakah,  king  of  Egypt,"  181 

Tyre,  war  against 60 

Ur,  the  ships  of .s 78 

Vine  culture  in  Egypt 166 

\V~ady-el-arish,  "  river  of  Egypt" 196 

Walking-stick  of  Egyptian? 162 

War-chariots  in  Babylonia 103 

Wheat,  mummy 161 

Wine,  varieties  used  in  Babylon 72 

free  use  in  Babylonia 103 

Woman  of  Babylon 102 

Egyptian,   licentiousness. 119 

Woods,  curious,  in  Babylon 69 

Xerxes,  anecdote  of 5).'? 

Yapu  r-Shapu 56 

Tarn-Soph,  name  applied  to  Red  Sea 156 

Zedekiah,  last  King  of  Judah, 200 

Zendaveata,  the 91 


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